


One Line A Day [HIATUS]

by Lssimpson999



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Not Famous, F/M, Fluff, On Hiatus, neighbour
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 00:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9521972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lssimpson999/pseuds/Lssimpson999
Summary: They were complete opposites, him and her, yet, they clicked. They've lived next to each other almost all their lives and knew practically everything about each other. They did everything together. They were the very definition of best friends.Until they weren't.(Or, the Best Friend/Neighbour trope that no one asked for)





	1. Prologue

Emilia Hope lived in a small town where everybody knew everybody. Nothing really interesting or out of the ordinary ever happens in this small town that she calls home; so you can imagine 5 year old Emilia's surprise when she heard the moving trucks outside her bedroom one evening. She jumped up and down when she saw a new family moving into the house next to hers. Little Emilia was over the moon when she saw a little boy right around her age look up at the house in awe, running into the house. 

Emilia remembers the exact moment she met Luke Hemmings in vivid detail. 

From her bedroom window, she could see the inside of one of the rooms in the other house. She slid open the french doors and saw little Luke enter the room, inspecting the big, empty room. Emilia tried to get this little boys attention and it seemed to work because the next thing she knew, Luke was running to the door and opening it to get to his balcony. 

"Hi!" Emilia called out in an excited voice. 

"Hello!" Luke replied, matching her excitement with a dimpled grin. 

"I'm Emilia!" 

"Hi Emilia!" Little Luke said, waving at her from his balcony which was only a couple of feet from her balcony. 

"Wanna be friends?" She asked excitedly. 

"Yeah!" Luke cheered. 

From then on, they were inseparable. Luke and Emilia, Emilia and Luke. Those names were always mentioned together. They were like Bonnie and Clyde - partners in crime. Luke and Emilia did everything together. They would often sneak into each other's house when the other needed them. They've used everything from a blowhorn to a flashlight and even small pebbles to alert the other to come over. 

Then one day they didn't. 

If you asked her when she was 13 how she felt about having Luke as her neighbour, she would've talked for hours and hours, detailing every stupid little thing that they did together. She would tell you about the time Luke fell from their treehouse that they built together and broke his bone, only he didn't notice that it was broken until Emilia started crying. Luke spent the whole time in the hospital consoling the teary eyed girl rather than tending to his own injuries. They were 11 at the time.

If you asked Luke how it was having Emilia as a neighbour when he was 13, he would laugh and tell you that it awesome. He would give you his famous dimpled smile and tell you how she was his 'bestest friend in the whole wide world'. If you asked him what his favourite memory of her was, he would tell you it was the time him and Emilia snuck out of the house to go to their treehouse to try and catch Santa Claus and his reindeers. Emilia wanted to talk to Rudolph, to tell him that he didn't deserve to be treated that way and if Rudoplh wanted, Emilia could talk to the other reindeers to tell them to be nice to him. Emilia also told Luke to tell Santa what the other reindeers were doing to poor Rudolph. Luke just wanted to ask Santa what he got for Christmas. They were 8 at the time. 

If you asked Emilia right now what her thoughts were on having Luke Hemmings as her neighbour now, she would smile politely and tell you that it was okay, because that's the kind of person she is - kind and polite. Emilia changed tremendously ever since Luke and her stopped being friends. She was shy. She stayed at home and studied most of the time, only going out occasionally to please her friends. She was a model student and it showed in her grades and her school work. 

If you asked Luke today what he thought about having Emilia Hope as a neighbour, he would shoot you a confused look. According to him, he didn't know any Emilia Hope. Luke was a jock. A typical popular jock who had no time for anyone who wasn't on the 'popular radar'. He definitely did not know the nerd who sits at the second last row of lunch with her handful of friends called Emilia Hope. He definitely didn't know Emilia Hope whose favourite colour was blue and who hates pineapple and occasionally blasts music to calm her down. He did not officially know any Emilia Hope. He couldn't and he wasn't even sure that he wanted to anymore. 

Emilia Hope and Luke Hemmings _were_  once best friends. Now... Now they're no better than strangers who just happen to have their bedrooms facing each other. 


	2. Chapter 2

Emilia grabbed her bag and willed herself not to look at the window. It was a habit that after all this time, she was still struggling to break. Despite everything, she still couldn't gather up the courage to close the curtains. It was the one thing that both of them still upheld - Whatever happens, never close the curtains. If she did, that would mean that everything is truly over and she couldn't bear that. 

She shook her head, getting rid of all the thoughts and hoisted her school bag on her shoulder. She took one quick glance at the window and saw Luke grabbing his things and shoving them into his bag. She shook her head, he never did learn how to pack his bag properly; not that she cared. Why would she care about him? They're not friends anymore. 

She sighed and walked out of the room, down the stairs. 

"Good morning mom," She greeted, kissing her mother's cheek and setting her bag down neatly by the side of her chair. "What's for breakfast?" 

"Morning sweetheart," Her mother said with a smile, "Toast and jam. Eat up." 

"Where's dad?" Emilia asked, taking a bite of her food. 

"He had an emergency at the office but he'll be back for dinner tonight." 

Emilia considered herself lucky. She had a loving, happy family, something that she wished everyone had. She was a sweet girl that had great grades and an incredible support system. She inherited the best of both her father and her mother. She had her fathers nose and those same doe brown eyes. She got her mother's plump lips and wavy hair and dark brown hair colour. She was beautiful which makes you think, why then isn’t she confident? Why isn’t she at the top of the social pyramid?

The answers to that are simple. She isn’t on top of the social pyramid because she chooses to blend in. At one point in her life, aka when Luke was still in it, she thought she could do anything! She thought that with her best friend by her side, she would completely take on the world. Then one day, he just wasn’t anymore and her confidence took a turn for the worst. She found herself second guessing every dingle thing that came out of her mouth, she found a part of herself broken. She gave so much to that friendship that when it ended, it broke her. It took her a long time to put herself back together again. It took her so long because Luke moved on so fast and that’s what really shattered her.

"Sweetheart," Her mother called out, grabbing Emilia's attention, "Mrs. Hemmings called us over for dinner. She said that she was missing you and invited you specially -" 

"Mom." Emilia sighed, stopping her mother in the middle of her sentence, "I'm going to be busy. Please apologise for me." 

"Emilia, it's been a long time," The older woman tried to rationalise, "I'm sure you and Luke can work this out if you just talked to him -" 

"I'm going to be late for school," Emilia said, dragging her chair and grabbing her bag, "I'll see you when I get home." 

"Emilia, if you just-" Her mother said but Emilia shot her a sad look and her mother stopped. She couldn't bear seeing her only child like this. She used to be loud, boisterous, filled with happiness, never seen with a frown on her face, but now, she's completely different. She doesn't speak until spoken to, she never looks up from her books, never goes out. She's changed and not for the better.

"We're not friends anymore, mom." She said simply, "Please, let it go. We have." 

 

“Luke, you’re going to be late for school!” His mother called out from the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m coming, mom!” He replied, glancing quickly at Emilia’s window only to find that she was gone. That was like Emilia anyway, getting to school early. If they were still friends, he would probably already be in class by now. He shook it off, grabbing his sports gear and running down the stairs.

“I don’t think you even have time for breakfast,” His mother huffed.

“I’ll grab something on the way.” Luke replied, sliding his shoes on and lacing them up.

“Oh before I forget,” His mother said, “I invited the Hope’s over for dinner today so be home before 8 please.”

“All of them?” He asked, not looking up from his shoes.

“Yes all of them.” His mother told him, “Including Emilia.”

“Mom!” Luke huffed.

“What happened between you two? You guys never spend any time together and-“

“We’re not friends anymore.” Was all Luke said.

“But why?” His mother asked.

“We just aren’t.”

“Well she’s coming over so you better be on your best behaviour and that is _not_ a request.” His mother said sternly.

“She won’t come.” Luke told her.

“And why is that?”

“Because she’s Emilia.” Luke said, “She’ll probably make some excuse about studying.”

“I talked to her mother who seemed pretty confident-“

“She’s not coming.” Luke told her with finality, “And even if she was, I’m not going to be home.”

“It’s a family dinner and the last time I checked, you’re a part of the family.” The older woman said sternly.

“I’m late for school.” Luke said, grabbing his bag and walked to the door.

“Luke, whatever happened-“ She started to tell her teenage son.

“Can’t be fixed.” Luke said, “I’ve already tried.”

“Friendship can-“

“We’re not friends, mom!” Luke shouted in frustration before taking a deep breath and lowering his voice, “Not anymore.”

 

“Hey Em! Missed you this weekend!” Heather said, leaning against the locker next to Emilia’s.

Heather Whitman, one of Emilia’s handful of friends. Heather was the complete opposite of what Emilia was. She was almost like the girl version of Luke if Luke was actually nice and had his balls back (Heather’s words, not Emilia’s). Heather was beautiful what with her long blonde hair, perfect figure and 3.98 GPA that she was working very hard on bringing up to a perfect 4.00. Heather didn’t give a shit about the ‘social hierarchy’, she was friends with everybody but considered Emilia to be her best friend.

Emilia didn’t believe in the whole concept of best friends anymore. She just had friends, now.

“I was at home, studying for the Math test today,” Emilia told her, shutting the locker and leaning against it, “Sorry I couldn’t make it.”

“You’re not sorry at all!” Heather said with a sigh, “It was just one party, Em! It wouldn’t kill you to socialize.”

“They didn’t even invite me, Heather,” Emilia told her, “They invited you! They don’t want me there.”

“Of course they invited you!” Heather told her.

“You tearing up the invite in half and giving it to me does not count as an invitation,” Emilia said with a laugh, “I don’t even care about these parties, Heather, and you know that!”

“You haven’t even been to a party,” Heather said.

“By choice.” Emilia reminded her.

“Just go to one party, Em!” Heather begged, kicking off the locker and standing in front of Emilia.

“Okay fine!” Emilia sighed, “The next time you get invited to a party, I’ll come.”

Heather grinned slyly, “Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay great because Dylan Parker is having a party tomorrow and I got invited!”

“But it’s a school night…” Emilia complained.

“You promised!” Heather reminded her.

Emilia sighed in defeat, “Fine, I’ll go.”

Heather clapped her hands in victory, grabbed Emilia’s hand and led her down the hallway to class.

Luke ran until he was about a block away, from then on he settled into a stroll, trying to calm down his breathing. He had a reputation and he wasn’t going to let one class, even if it was his favourite class, jeopardize that. He checked his watch, he had about 4 minutes left until the late bell rang and he would get detention. He started brisk walking till the driveway of the school and then he started to amble to his locker.

“Hey baby,” He heard before his shirt was yanked and there were a pair of lips on his. His eyes went wide with shock. He heard his friends yelling for him to ‘get some’ and that’s when he knew he was being watched. He closed his eyes and pulled her closer to him, making sure to squeeze her ass. She pulled away first, clinging to his side. He tried not to roll his eyes as he got his books out of his locker.

Victoria Henderson – Luke’s on again, off again girlfriend. She was your typical head cheerleader come rich kid. Her father owned most of the business in this town and the two nearby. She had her father and her third stepmother wound around her little finger. She could get anything she wanted with a simple ‘Please Daddy.’ Luke didn’t know if he actually liked her as a person or because he was obligated to do. After all, this was high school and he was the captain of the soccer team. He couldn’t do anything to jeopardize his social standing.

“Oi oi, Luke!” Dylan Parker said, hitting his free arm, “Getting some early in the morning, eh?!”

“You know me, dude,” Luke said cockily, “They just can’t get enough.”

“Did you go to Victoria’s party over the weekend?” Dylan asked, slapping Luke’s shoulder.

“She’s my girlfriend, mate, of course I went!” Luke said with a laugh, pulling Victoria closer to him.

“We had fun, didn’t we Lukey,” She said sultrily. Luke hated that goddamn nickname but he shrugged it off.

“Hey you’re coming for my party tomorrow night, right?” Dylan asked.

“Do I ever miss any parties?” Luke said with a smirk.

 

“Hey sweetheart, how was school?” Emilia’s mother asked as she walked through the door.

“It was alright.” Emilia answered as she took her shoes off, placing them neatly in the shoe rack, “I think I nailed that math test.”

“I’m sure you did!” Her mother smiled in approval, “You have been studying very hard for that one.”

“Thanks, mom,” Emilia replied with a smile, kissing her mother on the cheek, “What’s for dinner? I’m so hungry!”

“We’re going over to the Hemmings’ for dinner,” Her mother said, looking at her daughter expectantly.

“I…I have a project. I don’t think I can make it.” Emilia stuttered, trying to come up with a reason not to go.

“Emilia, Liz invited you specially for dinner,” Her mother said, “It’s not nice-“

“I know mom, but I can’t…” Emilia said, trailing off, “I’ll go for the next one, okay?”

“Fine, sweetheart.” Her mother said, resigned, “I guess you could have leftovers.”

“Please apologise on my behalf.” Emilia said politely, grabbing her bag and walking up to her room.

There was a knock on his door.

“Yeah?” Luke called out from the comfort of his bed. He looked up from his laptop to see his mother standing by the door with her hands folded over her chest and a look of disappointment on her face. “What? What did I do?”

“Why aren’t you dressed yet?” She asks him.

“Dressed?” He asks with a confused look on his face, “What for?”

“The Hope’s are coming over for dinner any minute now, Luke!” She says, walking to his closet and picking out a nice dress shirt and pants, “Get dressed and be downstairs in the next 7 minutes.”

“That dinner is actually happening?” Luke asks with a humourless laugh.

“Yes it is!” His mother says, “What’s so funny?”

“The fact that you think this will be a family dinner.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asks in confusion.

“That she’s not coming.” He says simply, stripping off his shirt and putting the dress shirt on, “But I’ll play along for your sake.”

“Just get dressed and be downstairs.” His mother says, closing the door on her way out.

Luke couldn’t help but glance at his neighbours window. The curtains weren’t shut even after all this time. He sighed and willed himself to look away. He didn’t care about her. They weren’t friends. They weren’t anything but neighbours. He got dressed and walked downstairs, plopping himself on the couch and whipping his phone out. Might as well pass the time somehow.

The doorbell rang and reluctantly Luke got off the couch and put on his fake smile. His mother scurried from the kitchen and composed herself before opening it with a big smile.

“Hello Susan and Jack!” His mother greeted in an excited voice.

“Hello Liz, darling,” Emilia’s mother, Susan, greeted, “I baked you a chocolate tart!”

“Oh how nice.” His mother responses, taking the tart from her hands and welcoming her inside.

“Thank you so much for the dinner invite.” Jack said with a smile.

“It’s our pleasure!” His mother said looking outside the door as if she was expecting something else, “Will Emilia be joining us later on?”

“Oh I am so sorry Liz, but Emilia said that she was swamped with school work,” Emilia’s mother said, and Luke gave his mother the ‘I-told-you-so’ look. “She did say to apologise. She really wanted to come but this project-“

“Don’t worry about it.” Luke’s mother said with a small smile, “There will always be other dinners.”

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Hope.” Luke greeted, walking up to them.

“Luke dear!” Emilia’s mother greeted with enthusiasm. “We’ve missed you around the house.”

Luke gave her a tight lipped smile.

“How’s the season going, buddy?” Emilia’s father asked him.

“It’s going great! We have a game coming up to determine if we qualify for the Nationals.” Luke said.

“I’m sure you’ll go all the way!”

“That’s the plan.” Luke replied with a grin.

“Emilia wanted to apologise for not being able to make it,” Emilia’s mother interjected and Luke’s face fell. “She really wanted to make it.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Luke muttered under his breath.

“What’s that, dear?” Emilia’s mother asked.

“I’ll be right back.” He said and trudged up the stairs into his room. He couldn’t help but feel this pang of disappointment that Emilia wasn’t here. He tried to push his feelings away but it only escalated when he saw her through the window of his room. She was sitting on her bed, eating a piece of pizza and laughing at her laptop. She was happy. Even worse, she was happy without him. The disappointment turned into sadness that weighed heavy on his chest. He shook his head and walked out of his room.

Emilia was relieved that she didn’t have to go to this dinner tonight. Of course she felt terrible that she had to say no to Mrs. Hemmings. She was like a second mother to Emilia and she couldn’t stand disappointing anyone. She heated up the leftover pizza from yesterday and brought it up to her room. She sat down on the bed and fired up her laptop, clicking the next episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine. She had just started season 2 and was absolutely loving it.

When she finished her dinner, she walked over to her study table and opened up the drawer to where she hid her diary. A year ago, she made a resolution that she would write something about her day, everyday in this journal. It was only supposed to be one line a day, but she never really heeded to that. She grabbed her diary and walked to the balcony.

This was the one part of her day that she looked forward to – happy or sad, she always had this moment right here, under the stars thinking about her day. That was the one beauty of living in a small town, that there was no light pollution, or not as much as a big city would have. She took a deep breath and started to write.

_Mom asked me about Luke again today. She thinks she knows the whole story but she doesn’t. I don’t have the heart to tell her. I don’t want to relive it. Heather asked me, well forced me to go to a party tomorrow. Hopefully that goes well. I am an awkward piece of shit sometimes. Today I learnt that math isn’t as bad as I say it is._

_Ps. Andy Samberg from Brooklyn Nine Nine is incredibly cute and funny._

She closed her book and clutched it to her chest – the one secret she will never tell anyone is the fact that she had this book right here. It wasn’t a diary but it came close. She was truly herself when she was writing in this. She didn’t have to be polite or fake a smile or pretend that she was okay when she wasn’t. This book truly captured everything she was feeling.

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

"Morning, sweetheart," Her mother greeted as she entered the kitchen. 

"Morning mom," She replied with a smile, grabbing a bowl, milk and cereal. 

"The Hemmings missed you at dinner last night," Her mother commented, not taking her eyes off the newspaper. 

"I hope you apologised on my behalf."[ Emilia responded](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_301/set?id=216777135) politely. 

"I did." Her mother said. "You will come for the next dinner."

"If work doesn't -" Emilia started to say but her mother cut her off. 

"That wasn't a request, Emilia." Her mother said, looking sternly at her, "You _will_  go for the next dinner." 

"I'm getting late for school." Emilia said quietly, grabbing her bag from the floor. 

"You haven't had breakfast yet." 

"I'll just grab something on the way." Emilia muttered under her breath. 

"What time are you expected back from school today?" Her mother asked. 

"Oh uhh, I forgot to tell you," Emilia stumbled over her words, "Heather wants to take me to this party tonight so I'll be staying at her house. I'll only be back tomorrow after school if that's okay?" 

"That's great!" Her mother said with a broad smile, "Go! Have fun!" 

"Oh." Emilia said, at a loss for words. 

"What's wrong, honey?" Her mother asked. 

"I just thought that because it was a school night, you would object." Emilia told her. 

"You thought or you hoped?" Her mother asked. 

Emilia simply looked at her mom, resigned. 

"If you don't want to go then don't, Emilia." Her mother said. 

"I promised Heather that I would." 

"Sweetheart, enjoy your youth!" Her mother advised, "There will be lots of time to study and bury your nose in books, but you need to have fun too! All work and no play-" 

"Is not good for the soul," Emilia finished, "I know, mom." 

"It's your choice." Her mother said with a small smile. 

"I'm getting late for school." 

Emilia walked out of her house and closed the door behind her when she heard her name being called. She whipped her head around. 

"Good morning Emilia." She heard from the neighbours house. 

"Good morning, Mrs. Hemmings." Emilia greeted politely with a small, polite smile. 

"We missed you at dinner last night." 

"I'm sorry about that." Emilia apologised, walking towards the older lady, each step getting heavier and heavier. She was weary that she might just see Luke. "There was a lot of school work and I had to finish it before today." 

"I hope you got it done." Mrs. Hemmings said. 

"Yes I did, thank you." Emilia said quickly, wanting to leave before she saw Luke. "I'm sorry Mrs. Hemmings but I'm getting late-" 

Just as she was leaving, the front door opened and all Emilia saw was a black shirt that was stumbling out the door. 

"Luke!" His mother announced with a smile, "You're actually early for once!" 

"Yeah mom, I have-" He started to say but saw Emilia next to his mother and his mouth shut. 

"Luke, don't be rude!" His mother chastised when she saw him blankly staring at Emilia. "Say hello."

"Hi." He breathed out, barely.

"Hey." Emilia said in a soft voice. "Excuse me, Mrs. Hemmings. I'm going to be latefor school." 

"Luke will walk you!" Mrs. Hemmings said excitedly. Luke looked at his mother, appalled, almost matching the mortification on Emilia's face. 

"Umm, no it's fine, really." Emilia stumbled over her words. 

"Don't be silly!" Mrs. Hemmings insisted, pushing Luke towards Emilia gently, "Go on then. Have a nice day at school, kids." 

Emilia walked ahead of Luke, trying not to think about how awkward this was. She tried instead to think about literally anything else, like how she did really well on that math test yesterday, or how school was a kilometre and a half away, and how with each step that she takes, this would be over. 

Luke tried to put as much distance from him and Emilia as possible. He had a reputation to keep after all. He couldn't be seen with someone like her. He noticed that Emilia's hair had grown lighter than when she was younger and how she had become slimmer, trimmer and more fit - No Luke! You have a girlfriend, a really hot one that gives him whatever the hell he wanted, whenever he wanted. Victoria was hot. Not Emilia. Emilia isn't even someone he knows - offically anyway. She was a nobody and Luke was a somebody. That's how this works. 

Emilia found herself slowing down. She didn't know why, but her feet were suddenly dragging. She glanced back at Luke who was just as surprised as she was. He didn't stop or even try to put more distance between them, he was catching up to her. She stopped entirely. She didn't want to will her feet to move, but she wasn't ready to talk to him yet. She knew what happened wasn't his fault, but she didn't want to revisit anything. 

The next thing both of them knew, they were walking to school together, if you could even call it that. They were physically present next to each other, but mentally, they were millions of miles away. Neither one of them even bothered to look at each other or even start a conversation. They didn't know if they wanted to be 'together' because they wanted it, or because Luke's mom asked. 

"Hey, Emilia!" She heard. She stopped to look at who called her name and was surprised to see that Luke stopped too. He took [one look at Heather ](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_302/set?id=216777275)who was heading their way with a confused look on her face and turned up his nose. 

He didn't realise that they were at school already. He had to get back to pretending that he didn't know Emilia. He walked into school without another look at either of them.

"Was that Luke Hemmings with you?" Heather asked Emilia. 

"Uhh, yeah." Emilia breathed out, walking into school with Heather. 

"Since when did you two become besties?" Heather joked. Emilia felt a pang in her heart. 

"We're nothing." Emilia said, turning to her locker and taking out her books. 

"He's a dick anyway," Heather scoffed. 

"He didn't used to be." Emilia muttered. 

"What?" 

"I said, what are we doing about this party?" Emilia asked, clearing her throat, knowing that if she brought up the party, Heather would leave her alone about Luke. 

"You're actually coming?!" Heather asked excitedly. 

"I promised, didn't I?" Emilia said more than asked, closing her locker and leaning against it. 

"We're going to have the best frickin' time!" Heather squealed, linking her arms with Emilia's 

"I hope so!" Emilia said with a tight lipped smile, glancing at Luke who was pushing Victoria up on her locker with their tongues down each other's throat. She shook her head, not believing that this was the same guy that used to be her best friend.

So much has changed in such a little time. A big part of her wished that she could reverse time and get _that_  boy back, but the smaller part knew that she had to live with what she had now... Or what she doesn't have.

 

~~~

 

"Heather, no!" Emilia protested. 

"Emilia, yes!" Heather mocked in the same tone, an evil glint in her eyes. 

"I am not doing it, Heather." Emilia warned. 

"You have to!" Heather whined, "You promised!" 

"I promised to go to the party which I am doing." Emilia contested. 

"You _cannot_  go to a party dressed in a tank top and jeans, Emilia!" Heather said. 

"Why not?" 

"It isn't appropriate party wear," Heather said, speaking her language, "You wouldn't go to class in your bikini now, would you?" 

"Fine. I'll wear it," Emilia said with a resigned sigh, snatching the clothes out of her friend's hand and walking into the bathroom to change. 

"You're going to look amazing!" Heather said, clapping her hands with glee. 

"I'm going to look stupid!" Emilia groaned, stripping off her jeans to put the high waisted shorts on. 

"You have a bangin' bod, Emilia!" [Heather told her,](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_304/set?id=216878815) putting on her necklaces while waiting for Emilia to come out of the bathroom. 

"I look terrible!" Emilia groaned when she saw her reflection. 

"Come out and show me!" Heather coaxed her. 

"Heather, this isn't me." Emilia doubted, reluctantly opening the bathroom door and walking out. 

"[You look frickin' hot!](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_305/set?id=216879268)" Heather said with a grin. "I should change my major to fashion." 

"You have to say that, you're my friend." Emilia said, crossing her arms over her chest, uncomfortably. 

"Look, Emilia," Heather said seriously, "You look amazing, but if you're uncomfortable, you can always pick something else out." 

Emilia sighed. She didn't want to be a party pooper, so she went with it. "Might as well try something new."

"Come on let's go before you change your mind!" Heather said, grabbing Emilia's hand and dragging her from her room.

The first thing they were met with when they entered the barely lit house that was blaring with music and buzzing with activity was a [backless halter top and shorts that were so short, they barely ended on the ass](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_303/set?id=216843293), clad Victoria. Emilia immediately felt overdressed despite the fact that she was wearing the thinnest piece of silk as a top. She had never worn a spaghetti strapped crop top before. She wanted nothing more than to cover herself up, but she decided that she would step out of her comfort zone for once. 

"You okay?" She heard Heather whisper-shout into her ear.

"Just overhwhelmed." Emilia breathed out, clinging to her friend. 

"Come on, let's go get you a drink!" Heather said, dragging her through the inebriated crowd.

Emilia had never been to a high school party before. All the parties she used to go to were kids parties - one with clowns, pinatas and a really big cake. She wished that there was a pinata here; those were actually fun. She had a drink in hand and was watching the crowd dancing. She wondered how these people thought that this was fun. All they were doing was drinking cheap beer and grinding up on each other with really bad music in the background. 

"Do you want to dance?" Heather screamed over the loud music. Emilia simply shook her head. She didn't want to be here, but since she was experiencing new things, she decided that she would stay. She turned her head to Heather to talk to her, but Heather was suddenly pulled away by some other friends and dragged into the crowd. 

Emilia was all alone with half a cup of beer, stood next to the messy snack table. She deflated. She knew that no good would come out of her going to a party. She was wasting precious time that could have been spent binge watching Brooklyn Nine Nine. She looked around, trying to find something, anything to do. She settled on watching people dance and hoped that it wasn't creepy. 

"Hey." She heard from beside her. 

"Hi." She replied with a polite smile to the guy. The first thing she noticed about him was his height. He was tall and his hair fell flat on his head. 

"Are you from here?" He shouted over the music, sloshing his drink around the cup. 

"Yeah, I go to school with most of the people here." She answered him. 

"Oh, me too!" He said excitedly, grinning at her, "I've never seen you around, though." 

"I tend to blend in." She said simply. 

"I find that hard to believe." 

"Why is that?" She asked, smiling. 

"'Cause you're beautiful." He said flirting with her. 

Emilia blushed. She had never been flirted to before. She didn't know what the proper protocol was for this kind of situation. This was never taught in books! What was she supposed to do?!

"I'm Cooper by the way," He introduced with a toothy smile, "Cooper Atwood." 

"Emilia." She said back, "Emilia Hope." 

"I will definitely remember that," He told her before piping up, "Hey do you want to go somewhere quiet?" 

Emilia hesitated. She may not have gone to many parties but she definitely knew what that line meant. "Umm.." 

"Just to talk," Cooper said quickly, "I promise." 

"I think they have a garden here," Emilia said, pointing towards the door on the opposite end of where they were stood. Cooper extended his hand to her. 

"Just to talk." He repeated, smiling hopefully. Emilia shook her head and let out a little laugh. She thought to herself that since she was here, why the hell not. She took his hand and let him lead her out. 

 

Luke was leaning against a wall with his friends surrounding him. They were laughing at some lame joke that Dylan made. This was just a typical night for him - another day, another party. Luke loved it. He loved the fact that everyone wanted him to come to their parties and that they worshipped the ground he walked on. He loved girls throwing themselves at him, hanging on his every word. He felt like a King. 

"Hey man, I'm all out," He said, gesturing to his drink, "I'll be right back."

Luke walked inside the house, making a beeline to the drink table. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Emilia. He did a double take and even rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Emilia Hope, the nerd, was at a party? What's even more unbelievable was the fact that the same nerd who didn't leave the house for anything other than school was holding a cup of beer. The nerdy Emilia was wearing a silk crop top and high wasited shorts that showed off her long legs. Well, that was... Something. 

Luke was just stood in the middle of the room, awestruck at the fact that she was there, dressed the way that she was.

When he came out of shock, he remembered that he had a group of friends waiting for him outside. He looked at his red cup and didn't know if he should just go up to the table right next to her and pour himself a cup while ignoring her existance, or just go back outside. He found himself not wanting to plainly ignore the fact that she was right there, but then again, that's what he did this morning. He couldn't just go outside without getting a refill. If he did that, his friends would start asking questions that he didn't want to have to answer. 

Luke didn't have a choice. He sighed and started walking towards Emi - The drink table. He was walking to the drink table. He pushed past a couple of people, rolling his eyes at their stupid 'dance' moves. He saw someone move past him and he stopped. He couldn't see Emilia anymore; there was someone towering over her. What did Luke care? He shook off any thoughts of Emilia that he had and continued walking towards the drink table. 

He caught a glimpse of Emilia blushing and stopped dead in his tracks.He felt a surge of protectiveness and...jealousy? No way! Luke Hemmings never feels jealous, people are jealous of him. He shook off the thought, but kept watching her and that prick. The next thing he knew, he was extending his hand to her and she took it. He felt his heart drop. He wanted nothing more than to knock that asshole's teeth out and he didn't know why. He wasn't jealous. He didn't even care. 

Luke stalked over to the drinks table and poured himself the strongest drink that they had and gulped it down before refilling it. He must have done that at least 4 times before he felt the effects of the drink. He looked around the room, trying to spot his girlfriend. He walked up to her and grabbed her hand. 

"Luke?" Victoria said with a giggle. He pulled her towards him and smashed his lips onto hers. She was quick to respond, feeling her leg on his waist. Luke got the hint and lifted her up, walking her towards an empty room. 

He needed to stop feeling whatever it was he was feeling and there was only one way to do it.

 

"Emilia?!" Heather called out, worry bubbling in her chest. She has looked everywhere for her friend and couldn't find her. She ran her fingers through her hair in worry. She shouldn't have left her alone! God, why was she so stupid?!

"Emilia!" Heather said again, walking outside and sighing in relief when she saw her friend throw her head back and laugh. 

"Oh Heather, hey!" Emilia said with a smile, taking a sip of her drink. 

"Where were you?! I was looking everywhere for you!" Heather said, panting a little bit. 

"I was here." Emilia said, "Sorry I worried you. I just needed to get away from all the music and-" 

"It's alright. I was just worried." Heather told her, looking at the guy next to her expectantly. 

"Heather, this is Cooper," Emilia introduced, looking at Cooper in admiration, "Cooper this is Heather, a really good friend of mine." 

"Hello Heather, it's nice to meet you." Cooper said politely, extending his hand for her to meet. 

"Nice to meet you too." Heather said with a smirk, giving Emilia a look. 

"Do you have to leave now?" Cooper asked Emilia. 

"Unfortunately I do." Emilia told him, not getting up.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Cooper said, not taking his eyes off her. 

"I guess you will." 

"Sorry to break it to you, but to leave you actually have to get up." Heather said, stifling her giggle.

Emilia got off the seat reluctantly and waved at Cooper. Cooper waved back, shooting her a small smile. Heather had to drag Emilia away from the garden and into the car. 

"Oh my god!" Heather said, excitedly. 

"What?" Emilia said. 

"You and Cooper, that's what!" Heather replied. 

"What about it?" Emilia said, biting her lip nervously.

"He obviously likes you!" 

"We just met, he doesn't even know me," Emilia told her. 

"He definitely wants to!" 

"You think?" Emilia asked, doubting. 

"I know!" Heather told her, slapping her shoulder, excitedly. 

They reached Heather's house and went upstairs to change for bed. 

"What are you thinking?" [Heather asked](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_307/set?id=217091665) Emilia, lying down in bed. 

"Honestly," [Emilia told her,](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_306/set?id=217090567) pulling her hair in a bun, "I'm thinking about the Chemistry homework I did before going for the party." 

"Stop lying!" Heather teased, "You're thinking about the chemistry between you and Cooper." 

"I'm thinking about the balancing equations questions, idiot!" Emilia giggled, throwing a pillow at Heather.

"Sure you are." Heather said, throwing the pillow back at Emilia. 

"I'm going to use the bathroom." Emilia said, crouching down to her bag while Heather turned away, scrolling through her Instagram feed. Emilia took out the journal and hid it under her shirt while she walked to the bathroom. 

Emilia locked the door behind her and turned to the right page. 

_Heather dragged me to a party today. It was the first party I've ever been to. It was surprisingly really good! I met a guy there. He was really nice, and we just clicked! I hope I get to see him again. Today I learnt that I'm not such an awkward idiot after all._

_Ps. The guy was really cute too._

 

 

Luke just laid there, unable to get the picture of Emilia and that guy out of his head. He just kept replaying how Emilia was giggling and blushing at this guy that she didn't even know. He couldn't take it anymore! He got off his bed and walked to the window. He didn't know what he hoped to see, but it certainly wasn't darkness. 

Emilia wasn't home. Luke's imagination ran wild. As much as he tried to convince himself that he didn't care, he knew that he did. Years of friendship would do that to you. He still cared even if he didn't show it. Admittedly, that's a part of why they weren't friends anymore and one would think that Luke would've learned from that, but what was the point! The bottom line is that Luke cared. Luke cared but he can't! 

Everything has changed. Even Emilia. Luke would just have to accept it. There was nothing he could do anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

"Heather!" [Emilia called](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_318/set?id=217508231) out, shaking her friend awake, "Come on, we're going to be late for school."

Heather groaned and turned away, pulling the covers over her head. "No school."

"Heather!" Emilia sighed. She pulled off the covers and started pulling on Heather's leg to get her out of bed. 

"Oh my god!" Heather shrieked, eyes snapping open. "Jesus! Fine! I'm awake, I'm awake." 

"Took you long enough." Emilia muttered, pulling her hair back into a neat ponytail. 

"Normal people wouldn't be awake this early." Heather said, glaring at her friend. 

"Normal people don't go to parties on a school night! This is your own fault!" Emilia retorted. 

"It's called having fun, Emilia." Heather said, grabbing her towel and going into her bathroom, "You should try it sometime."

"I have fun!" Emilia called out behind her. 

"Oh yeah, like when?" Heather screamed back from the bathroom. 

"Like yesterday with Cooper!" 

"Oh you mean the mama's boy with two sisters and a father who is currently in Paris?" Heather teased. 

"You stalked him?!" Emilia asked, shocked, "Heather!" 

"Of course I stalked him!" Heather said, "My best friend is interested in this guy and I have to see if he's worthy of her." 

"Who said anything about being interested in him?!" 

"Oh please! It's so obvious that you like him! You were all over him at the party." 

"It's called having a conversation!" Emilia said, biting the tip of her thumb nail. 

"You totally like him," Heather said, turning off the shower and wrapping the towel around herself. 

"I don't even know him!" Emilia said, exasperated, "It's probably just a one time thing anyway. He's probably forgotten all about me." 

 

~~~

 

Luke stripped off his sweaty shirt, grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his waist, pretending to listen to the locker room conversation even though everyone was talking over one another. He always waited to get into the shower after practicing before stripping his shorts off. He never knew why he did it, he just did. There was something about taking off his pants in front of everyone else that just didn't sit right with him. He knew that no one would be looking but he always felt like they were. It was a habit he guessed that he developed when he was younger, but he never really thought about it. 

"So what happened with you and Victoria last night?" Dylan asked, wagging his eyebrows. 

"What always happens, man," Luke boasted, a smug expression on his face. 

"That explains why you were so fired up at practice today!" Dylan said loudly, making the others make suggestive noises at Luke. 

"Can you blame her man," Luke said, "Everyone wants a piece of this!" 

"Not everyone," One of the other players said. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Word has it that Cooper Atwood has a new piece of ass this week," Dylan answered. 

"Which slut is it this week?" Luke said with a scoff.

"You know the nerd with Heather?" Dylan asked. 

"Hot Heather, Nerd Heather or Goth Heather?" One of the players asked.

"Hot Heather obviously!" Dylan scoffed and Luke's head snapped up. "Wait, who's Goth Heather?" 

"Dylan! Focus!" Luke said, slapping Dylan on the shoulder. 

"Anyway, the nerd with Hot Heather, the one with the brown hair!" Dylan said, snapping his fingers trying to remember her name, "What's her name? What's her name?" 

"Emilia." Luke breathed out, his heart dropping, but he didn't want to admit it. 

"Yeah! Emilia!" Dylan said, slapping Luke's shoulder before letting out a laugh, "Cooper's going to have fun corrupting her that's for damn sure!" 

Luke's hands balled into fists by his side, his fingernails digging into his skin forming crescent marks on his palm as he tried to keep his anger at bay.

"It's always the quiet chicks who are the kinkiest in bed, mate," One of his team members said, making the others howl with laughter. Luke's jaw hardened and his eyes went steely. He didn't say another word as he entered the shower, trying to drown out the sounds that the team were making and resisted the urge to punch the wall. He gripped the shower handle so tight, he thought that it would break; but it didn't. He turned the cold shower knob all the way up in hopes that it would cool him down. 

It didn't. 

 

~~~

 

"Hey Emilia?" [Heather called out](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_317/set?id=217461050), but Emilia didn't look up from her phone. 

"Yeah Heather?" She answered, typing away from her phone. 

"Remember Cooper?" Heather asked. 

"Yeah." 

"I don't think it was a one time thing." Heather said in a smug tone. 

"What?!" Emilia said, snapping her head up and towards her friend who was staring straight ahead. Emilia looked at where her friends eyes were trained and saw Cooper standing by her locker shifting his weight from one foot to the other as if he were nervous. Emilia smiled shyly to herself. 

"Good luck girl," Heather said, waving to her. 

"No Heather, don't leave me.." Emilia said but trailed off when Heather walked away. Cooper looked up and saw Emilia standing in the middle of the crowded hallway. He waved at her and she waved back. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gripped her books close to her chest as she made her way to her locker and Cooper.

"Hey." She said with a small smile. 

"Hi." Cooper answered with a grin. 

"So..." Emilia said awkwardly, feeling shy. 

"So," Cooper repeated, the grin not leaving his face. 

"Yesterday was fun!" Emilia said as an ice breaker. 

"It was fun!" Cooper repeated, leaning against the locker next to hers. 

"Are you going to continue repeating what I said or..." Emilia teased, biting her lip. 

"Until this stops getting awkward, yeah," Cooper said with a little laugh, making Emilia smile. 

"It's only awkward if we make it awkward and there's nothing to make awkward anyway," Emilia said, "Is awkward even a word anymore?" 

Luke was walking through the halls, with damp hair, hoisting his bag on his shoulder. He stopped in the middle of the hallway when he saw Cooper and Emilia at her locker laughing like they had no care in the world. His jaw hardened but he forced himself to keep walking. He didn't care about Emilia or that dickhead Cooper. He didn't care that this was once his best friend even though he didn't want to admit it to anyone. He tried to stop himself from looking back when he reached his locker, but failed. He saw Cooper walking Emilia to class, their shoulders brushing one another. 

Luke told himself that he didn't care. He repeated this like a mantra despite the fact that his jaw was locked in place and his hand was balled tightly into a fist over the dial of the lock. 

Emilia walked into class with a grin on her face. 

"Good morning Miss Hope," Her favourite teacher greeted seeing as Emilia was always first to class, "You look like you're in a good mood." 

"Good morning Miss Grindelwall." Emilia greeted back. 

"You're definitely in a good mood. What's going on? Did you meet a new favourite character in a book again?" She asked the younger student. 

"No, not today," Emilia replied with a laugh, "I met a guy last night at a party and I think we're hitting it off." 

Miss Grindelwall was the only teacher that didn't treat Emilia like a cash bonus that the other teachers got if a student scored a certain number of points on a test or exam. Miss Grindelwall treated Emilia as more of a friend that anything else. It was no secret that Emilia was her favourite, but she was a favourite in a way that she wasn't to the other teachers. To the other teachers, Emilia was the one who did all the homework and aced every test and exam and was the go to person if no one else knew the answer. But for Miss Grindelwall, Emilia was her favourite because she was the most creative and always had a valuable opinion to add to the class. 

Emilia thoroughly enjoyed Miss Grindelwall's company and her english class. If there was one thing that could cheer Emilia up (That wasn't Andy Samberg) it would be Miss Grindelwall. She was Emilia's friend first before being a teacher. She was a confidant and someone who Emilia could trust would always be there. She was more of a big sister than anything to her. But while class was going on, Miss Grindelwall was a teacher.

"Oh a boy and a party!" Miss Grindelwall said in fascination, "Do tell." 

"After class!" Emilia laughed, sitting in her seat while biting her lip in anticipation. 

"I'm giving out the projects today." Miss Grindelwall told Emilia. 

"Please say it's not another partner project," Emilia groaned. 

"Sorry love, I know you hate it but I have to assign partner projects." 

"As long as it's not assigned." Emilia said, putting her chin in her palm. 

"I'm drawing names out of a hat if that helps?" Miss Grindelwall said, wincing in anticipation at Emilia's reaction. 

 _As long as I don't get Luke_ , Emilia thought to herself, refraining from saying anything else as more and more students started filing into class. Emilia became invisible again. She listened intently on what Miss Grindelwall was teaching. She loved English class. It was always her favourite. In this class, there was never any right or wrong answers, never a single idea that was stupid or that couldn't be built on. Everyone had their strengths in this class and Emilia's was her creativity. 

"5 more minutes until class is over so I might as well tell everyone what they have been waiting for," Miss Grindelwall said looking around at her eager students' faces, "The partner projects for this semester!" 

"Partner?!" One of the students at the back groaned. 

"I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear a groan but instead a cheer," She continued, grabbing the hat with the students names in it. "For this project you are to work with your partner and come up with a story together. It has to be presented at the end with your partner as well as printed out. Not less than 10,000 words. You both have a month to do it." 

"Do we get to pick our own partners?" Luke asked, drawing attention to him. 

"No. The hat will pick for you." Miss Grindelwall said with a sinister smile for effect. "Let's see what the fate has in stores for you lot today." 

She dramatically picked out the first name and read it out. The tension in the room was incredibly high as everyone was wondering who they would be partnered with - someone they love, someone they hated, or someone they didn't know. Miss Grindelwall was enjoying it. She herself didn't know who would be partnered with who, but she liked the unknown. She loved knowing that maybe because of her, something extraordinary will happen. 

"Luke Hemmings." She read out and set the paper aside. Luke held his breath. He watched as the teacher stuck her hand inside her hat and picked out a folded piece of paper. Knowing that Luke was watching her every move, she slowly unfolded it.

"Emilia Hope." 

Emilia's head snapped up to Miss Gridelwall in surprise. Her mouth was agape. She didn't know that her head turned around until she saw Luke. They had the same shocked expression on their face. They couldn't believe that their names were put together, they didn't know what would happen. Could they even work together after years of not speaking to each other? They didn't stop looking at each other even after Miss Grindelwall continued reading other names. 

Emilia let out a shaky breath and finally turned her head around to the front, a million scenarios in her head of how to get out of this partner project with him. She couldn't be with Luke. She just couldn't.

Luke couldn't make up his mind about how he felt. On one hand he was happy that he would finally be able to 'officially' know Emilia in school. Maybe they could restart what they had when they were younger. But the more realistic part of Luke knew that this could never work. They had too much history and Emilia and him...they just couldn't work anymore. Years and years of not even looking at each other in the eye couldn't be repaired with one project and he knew that. What's done is done. He had just to live with it. 

Emilia darted to the teachers desk after the bell rang and stayed there until everyone left. She should clarify, Emilia stayed there until everyone except Luke left. It seemed that both of them had the same idea - change partners.

"What can I do for you Emilia?" Miss Grindelwall said, not seeing Luke who was hanging back by his desk. 

"I need to change partners." She said, looking back at Luke who had a blank expression on his face as he put his books in his bag. 

"No can do," She told her student simply. 

"I can't work with him, Miss Grindelwall," Emilia begged, "You don't understand. I just need to change partners." 

"I have already assigned-" Miss Grindelwall started to say but got cut off. 

"What if I want to switch partners as well." Luke said, walking up to the opposite side of the desk, putting as much space in between Emilia and himself. 

"And why don't you two want to work with each other?" Miss Grindelwall asked, leaning back in her desk in fascination. 

The pair didn't speak or look at each other. They looked away, at anything else, trying to avoid the question. 

"Right." The teacher said, diverting her eyes between the two of them, "My answer remains the same. You two _are_  going to work with each other and you're going to hand in your assignment the same time as everyone else. End of discussion." 

 

~~~

 

[Emilia closed her](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=218175163) textbook and plopped herself on her soft, inviting bed. She just couldn't concentrate on her work when the only thing on her mind was this English project that she couldn't get out of. She wanted nothing more than to change partners but that just wasn't going to happen so the only thing that she could do right now, was live with it. She sat up on the bed and allowed herself a cursory glance at her neighbour's window. 

It was dark. He musn't be home right now. She checked her watch and it was past 10pm. Where could he be? She shook the thought out of her head, deciding not to think about him anymore and grabbed her book and a pen, going outside on the balcony to write about today. 

She opened the page to the correct date but stopped herself from writing when she heard a sound. She looked into the yard of the Hemmings' house and saw a shadowy figure kicking around a soccer ball. She sighed, wanting nothing more than to take out the flashlight by her bedside drawer and shine it to Luke, just like old times. She was reminiscing about it when her phone buzzed with a text. 

**From: Cooper.**

**Is it wrong that I can't stop thinking about you?**

Emilia couldn't keep the smile off her face. She found herself biting her lip as she typed back her reply. 

 

**To: Cooper**

**I think it's adorable! I can't stop thinking about you either :)**

 

_Turns out the guy I met yesterday is amazing! He's sweet and funny and totally gets me. Maybe this is the start of something new? I hope it is. In unfortunate events, Miss Grindelwall betrayed me and paired me with Luke in a partner project. I hope this goes well and not at all like I expect it to. Today I learnt that the universe is both really good and really bad._

_Ps. The guy's name is Cooper and he's such an adorable texter *squeal*_

 


	5. Chapter 5

Luke stared at the ceiling, telling himself not to be bothered by the fact that this was the third night in the row that Emilia was awake past 3am. He knew her. He knew that the only time she ever stays awake past midnight is during exam week and school had only started a month back! There was no way she was studying. He also knew that she wasnt studying because he looked out his window into her room and she was laughing at her phone and her study table was neat and tidy, with no books open might he add. 

He didn't like this. He didn't like one bit! He hated that he kept thinking about when they would start their English project just so he could talk to her. He wanted to be best friends again. Something about ignoring her just didn't feel right anymore. He couldn't keep up this charade. What had gotten into him? Why did he care all of a sudden?

He couldn't understand it.

He got off his bed and crossed the room, sneaking a peek into her room one last time. She was biting her lip, stopping herself from smiling. He hissed, feeling a sharp pain in his palms. He looked down and saw the distinctive crescent shape of his nails. Why did this bother him so much? 

For a split second, he considered drawing his curtains. As soon as the thought appeared in his mind, it went away. There was a line he would never cross and that was drawing his curtains. Even if they weren't friends... They had made a pact and Luke would never, ever go back on that. It was their one thing.

They still cared about each other, Emilia and Luke, even if they wouldn't admit it to themselves. Years of friendship don't just fade away. 

[Emilia was ](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=219186308)all smiles. In fact, she hadn't been able to get the goofy grin off her face since Cooper started texting her. He was funny, smart, charming and had that boyish grin that made her swoon. Dare she say it, she was falling for him. They had been texting non stop for the past couple of days. She was so engrossed in the conversation that she hadn't even cracked open a book today! Every time her phone would buzz, her tummy would just erupt with butterflies. She was smiling so much that her face was numb. 

**From Cooper:**

**5 hours and 57 minutes is too long! I need to see you now!**

 

**To: Cooper**

**You know, the time would go by a lot faster if you just went to sleep :P**

 

**From: Cooper**

**I'd rather spend the time talking to you**

 

Emilia squealed into her pillow, reading and rereading that text. Her heart was fluttering. She had never felt this way about anyone, ever! She jumped off the bed, holding her phone close while biting her lip, thinking about what to reply. She caught a glimpse of Luke who looked like he was fuming. For a second, she wondered what was going on with him, but that was quickly replaced by the excitement of getting another text from Cooper. 

 

~~~

 

"Wait, wait," [Heather said](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=219283173), grabbing Emilia's arm to stop her, "You were up till what time?" 

"Maybe 5 or 6?" [Emilia guessed](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=219282931), rubbing the sleep from her eye.

"In the morning?!" 

"Yeah." Emilia nodded. 

"With the knowledge that today is a school day?!" Heather said. 

"Yeah, so?" 

"Emilia Hope!" Heather chastised, "What has gotten into you?" 

Emilia simply smiled. Not a normal smile, but a goofy smile. A smile that was wide and one that she just couldn't shake. Even sleep deprived, Emilia couldn't stop smiling. She was secretly scanning the school hallways, wondering when Cooper would walk through the sea of people. 

"Earth to Emilia!" Heather said, snapping her fingers in front of her face. 

"What is it, Heather?" Emilia said, closing her locker and leaning against it, trying to blink the sleep away. 

"Excuse me for trying to figure out what is wrong with my best friend!" Heather scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Let me save you some time," Emilia said, her eyes going back and forth from one end of the hallway to the other, "Nothing is wrong with me." 

"You havent looked up from your phone for the past 7 days! You've been MIA most of the time! You haven't even started on your English project yer," Heather listed out, "Of course something's wrong with you!" 

"Emilia!" A voice called from the end of the hall.

Emilia perked up immediately waving to Heather, "Bye Heather! We'll talk about this at lunch, okay?" 

"Guess I have my answer." Heather mumbled to herself, turning on her heel and walking to class. 

 

~~~

 

"I hope you've started on your English Projects!" Miss Grindelwall said to the students who were packing up getting ready to leave class, "This is not something you can do last minute!" 

"Miss Grindelwall." Emilia said, walking up to her. 

"For the last time, Emilia, no you cannot switch partners." The teacher sighed in exasperation. 

"I will see you on Monday then," Emilia said and promptly walked out the door. 

Emilia had a lot of time on the bus to talk herself up. Everytime an excuse would pop up in her head, talking her out of it, she shut it down immediately. She told herself that it was best to get it over and done with immediately, rather than make a big deal out of it and fail the course. She needed to maintain her GPA and this was the only way. 

The bus stopped and Emilia walked off it. 

She stood in front of the house, rapping the door three times and waited. 

"Emilia?" 

"Hi Mrs. Hemmings!" Emilia greeted with a big smile, "Is Luke home?" 

"Yes, yes he is!" Mrs. Hemmings said in surprise, "Just one second sweetheart." 

Emilia tuned the sound of Mrs. Hemmings' screams for Luke, instead imagining a million different versions this conversation could take. She held onto her sigh, knowing that it would only do more bad than good. 

"He came in a couple of minutes before you," Mrs. Hemmings said, clearly trying to make conversation. Emilia shot her a polite smile. "How was school, dear?" 

"It was good, Mrs. Hemmings," Emilia said. 

"Please dear, you know I hate being called Mrs. Hemmings!" The older lady said, trying to bring back the Emilia that she once knew, "What ever happened to you calling me Mrs. H?" 

Emilia gave her an awkward laugh, looking around hoping for an escape from this conversation. 

"What is it, mom?!" Luke sighed from the top of the staircase. 

"You have a visitor," She said with a big smile on her face, as if she had been waiting for this day for a long time.

"Is it Brad? I swear this -" Luke muttered, trodding down the stairs, "Oh." 

"Hey." Emilia breathed. 

"Hey." Luke said, his hair slightly damp from what Emilia would presume was a shower that he just took. 

Mrs. Hemmings stood there, watching the now teenagers who hadn't talked for a long time. She could remember a time where these two were joined at the hip. They wouldn't go anywhere without each other. Whenever there was a party, or dinner, or even the park to play! Luke and Emilia would be together. They were so close that the parents would constantly joke about them growing up and falling in love. Boy, were they wrong.

"Mom you can go now." Luke said. 

Mrs. Hemmings shot them a smile and walked up the stairs, looking at the teenagers with a hint of sadness. Things went so wrong so fast that no one realised what damage had been inflicted until it was too late. From where she stood she could see their treehouse, one that hadn't been touched for a while. 

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked Emilia. 

"We have an English project in case you had forgotten," Emilia said, crossing her arms over her chest. Screw being nice. If he wasn't going to try then neither would she. 

"Couldn't find another partner?" 

"I'd rather not waste another day if you don't mind," Emilia scoffed, ignoring the painful pang in her heart, "You might be used to failing but I am not." 

Luke's jaw hardened. He didn't have a comeback. That's what annoyed him the most. 

"Are you just going to stand there or are we actually going to get some work done?" Emilia said, rolling her eyes. 

"You know where my room is." Luke said, moving aside so that she could enter the house. 

Emilia walked into the house, ignoring the surge of memories flooding her mind all at once. It just occured to her, while walking up the stairs, that this interaction was the first real one they've had for a while. By a while, she meant since the incident. Emilia shook away these thoughts, going straight for the bedroom, her palms slightly sweaty and her knees felt like they could buckle under her at any moment. She could feel Luke behind her as she turned the doorknob to his room. 

She didn't know what she expected to find, especially since she could see his room from her own, but she didn't expect it to look so...normal. Like nothing has ever changed. But in her heart, she knew that everything has changed. They couldn't go back to how things were, but for a split second she wished that it could. 

"You can take the study table. I'll sit on the bed," Luke said, clearing his throat and walking past her. 

Emilia set her bag down, taking out a piece of paper and her pencil box. She tried not to look around as much as possible. She didn't need 'what if's' haunting her tonight. She just needed to get this outline done and that was all for today.

"So what do you think we should do our project on?" Emilia asked, wanting to get the ball rolling. 

"Umm..." 

"Of course you haven't looked at the question yet," Emilia muttered, before speaking up, "We have to write a play. The theme is Recovery."

"You want to write the whole play today?" Luke asked, his eyes widened. 

"Just the outline so in our next session we know where to start," Emilia said, twirling the pen around. 

"Recovery." Luke said. Emilia nodded, trying to think about what they could do. 

"I think that most people are going to do theirs around hospitals and doctors and that sort of thing," Emilia thought out loud, "So let's avoid that. We don't want to be cliche." 

"What about finding something?" Luke said. 

"Like a treasure hunt or something like that?" Emilia asked, her interest piqued. 

"That's still cliche," Luke said with a shake of his head. 

"Then? What were you thinking of?" 

"What about finding someone," Luke said in a soft voice, "Like someone who once used to mean a lot but maybe they grew apart or something. But years later, they reunite and recover what they lost." 

"That..." Emilia said, trying not to read too much into it, "That's brilliant actually. Yeah, I love that idea." 

Luke smiled. 

"Now that we have our idea let's start with the outline." Emilia said, taking charge. Luke didn't even try to fight her on that. He knew that she wouldn't let them down. 

"Let's start with names," Luke suggested. 

"So essentially we have two main characters, right?" Emilia asked to confirm. Luke nodded. "What should their names be?" 

"They should match their personality!" Luke said, grabbing a pillow and putting it under his chest to get more comfortable. 

"The guy has a facade. One that he has to put up for everyone else; well everyone but the girl, obviously. He has brown hair and eyes to match! He's a big softie even if he wants other people to think otherwise," Emilia started to ramble, building a character in her mind. 

"It's just a story, not a build a boyfriend, Emmy!" Luke said with a laugh. 

Emilia froze. She looked at him in shock. Did he not realise what he just called her? Did he do that on purpose? She couldn't move. There were too many memories behind that 4 letter word. She looked at the laughing boy on the bed who clearly did not realise what he did. 

Before she knew it, the words were tumbling out of her mouth, "W-What did you just call me?" 

"What?" Luke asked, the laughter stopping. 

"You...You just called me E-Emmy," Emilia stuttered. She could feel the hot tears pricking the back of her eyes. 

"What? No!" Luke said defensively. 

Emilia wanted nothing more than to gather up her things and leave but she couldn't. They had barely made a dent in what they had to do. The project was due in less than 3 weeks and she didn't have time for drama. She just needed to get these 3 weeks over and done with and then she can go back to her normal life and so could he. He could go back to pretending that she didn't exist and she could go back to her books, Heather and Cooper.

"The guy should be called Jacob." Emilia said, "Jake for short." 

"Okay." Luke said, playing the conversation back in his mind. How could he be so careless?! Here she was, Emilia, in front of him. His once bestest friend in the whole wide world. His bestest friend that he used to call Emmy for short. God, how could he be so damn stupid?! He hasn't even looked in Emilia's direction before in the last couple of years and here he was 15 minutes into this study session and he was calling her Emmy! 

"Luke! Are you listening?" Emilia said, breaking him from his thoughts. 

"What?" He said, shaking away whatever thoughts he had, "Yeah. Sorry." 

"I said you need to come up with a girl character and name her." Emilia told him, scribbling down something in her piece of paper. 

"She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. She's tall but not as tall as him. She wears glasses and loves dresses. She hides behind books and her big glasses," He says, imagining this girl in his head, "She's smart and well read and loves to write. She is your girl next door." 

"Well, that was quick," Emilia mumbled to herself, "What's her name?" 

"Allison." Luke said, "Ally for short." 

"Jake and Ally," Emilia tried how it sounded when said out loud, "I like it." 

"So we have our main characters and their characterisation," Luke confirmed. 

"All we need now is a story." 

"Same time tomorrow, then?" Luke asked.

"Same time tomorrow." Emilia confirmed, grabbing her things and shoving them in her bag. 

Emilia practically threw th door open and flew down the stairs and out the front door. She felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders the second she stepped out of the house. She didn't know why it was that everytime she was near Luke...It just wasn't like before. It isn't easy anymore.

Everytime she's near him, she recalls what happened between them. She can feel the wound being cut open all over again. She could practically hear the fights that they had and that animosity...Even though there wasn't any animosity, she still felt like she had to tread on eggshells. 

She shook away all these thoughts and walked across the yard into her house. 

"Hi, honey!" Her mother greeted as soon as she stepped foot into the house.

"Hey!" 

"Why were you late today?" Her mother asked, "You didn't have extra class again did you? I swear that school is working you kids down to the bone that-" 

"I was at Luke's." Emilia answered, interrupting her mother. 

"Oh." Her mother said, not knowing what else to say. "I'm so glad you guys are friends again! His mother and I were just talking about it the other day and we said that you kids should just bury the hatchet-" 

"No mom." Emilia told her with steely eyes, "We're not friends. We were paired to do a project and there is no way to change partners. I checked." 

"Emilia, sweetie, why don't you two just talk-" Her mother tried but was quickly shut down. 

Mom, please!" Emilia said sternly, tears pricking her eyes, "What happened between Luke and I can never be fixed! He knows that and I know that. We were friends once upon time but not anymore." 

"Alright." Her mother said with a sigh, knowing that this is one fight she won't win.

"I have a lot of homework," Emilia said, turning around to go to her room, "Call me when it's time for dinner." 

Emilia went into her room, threw her bag on the bed and grabbed the comfiest clothes that she could find. [As soon as she was done changing](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=219461199), she threw her hair up into a messy bun and grabbed her book. She needed to get these feelings out. 

> _I don't know why the universe hates me, but it just does. I had to swallow up my pride for the sake of my GPA so I went to Luke's house to at least get started on the project. HE CALLED ME EMMY! WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?! He knows what that name means to me. Did he just forget what he did to me? To our friendship?! Today I learnt that fate is an ass!_

Emilia looked up at the window and saw Luke sitting on his bed, deep in thought. She sighed. If they were younger, he would've probably used the signal and they would either be goofing off to help each other feel better or in the treehouse. She got off the chair and walked to the balcony; Luke's window a couple of feet away from her and the treehouse right smack in the middle of their backyards. 

That was the beauty of their treehouse - the fact that it was equidistant from their rooms. It met in the middle of both their yards and was a combined effort by both their families. It was solely theirs and no one else's. It took them months to finish and when it finally was, they hadn't moved from there for weeks!

That _was_  Luke and Emilia. 

Now, they can't even spend an hour together. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you Miss Grindelwall, and once again, I _am_  sorry for keeping you after school," [Emilia said ](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_344/set?id=220212972)with a laugh as she exited the class to what she already suspected was an empty hallway.

"Hey." She heard from her left. She squealed, jumping in fear and dropping her books all over the floor. 

"Oh my god, I am so so sorry!" She heard as she crouched to pick up her books. 

"It's okay." Emilia said softly, grabbing her books, not bothering to look up. She saw another pair of hands help carry her books and that's when she looked up. "Cooper?" 

"Hey." He greeted again, flashing a toothy smile at her, his brown tousled hair was slightly messy on his head, his brown eyes staring at her like she was the most adorable person that she had ever seen. 

"Hi," She replied, smiling like an idiot as she gathered the books and clutched it to her chest while standing up. 

"I think I made you drop these," He told her, handing her the books that he picked up. She took it gratefully. 

"Thanks." 

"Don't thank me, I kinda made you drop it..." Cooper said, scratching the back of his neck in embarassment. 

"What are you doing here?" Emilia asked him. 

"Would it be stalkery if I said that I was waiting for you?" He asked her, sticking his hands in his jeans pocket. 

"You waited all this time for me?" Emilia asked, trying to keep her jaw from dropping. 

"Yeah," Cooper told her. 

"Why?" Emilia asked, trying to wrap her head around this. 

"I wanted to ask you out," Cooper told her. 

"Like...on a date?" 

"Yeah," Cooper told her, "Emilia Hope, would you do me the honour of going out on a date with me?" 

This time, Emilia's jaw dropped. 

"Is that a no?" Cooper asked. 

"No no," Emilia quickly said, "Yes. I will go out with you." 

"It's a date then," Cooper said, beaming from ear to ear. "I'll pick you up at 7.30." 

He turned around to leave but quickly turned back. 

"Are you cancelling on me already?" Emilia said, slightly joking but mostly not believing that someone like Cooper would go ask her out. 

"Actually I forgot something," Cooper said with a shy smile. 

"What is it?" Emilia asked. 

"This." Cooper said and quickly ducked down to kiss her cheek. Emilia looked like a deer in headlights as she tried not to squeal from excitement. "See you at 7.30, Emilia." 

 

~~~

 

"We can't use that setting, Luke!" Emilia sighed in exasperation. 

"Why not?!" Luke argued. 

"Because that doesn't seem plausible," Emilia said. 

"How is meeting at sea not a good idea?!" 

"How do two teenagers in high school meet at sea?" Emilia told him, "How does that make any sense at all?!"

"The idea is for Jake and Ally to be best friends and then grow apart and reunite," Luke told her, trying to convince her with this idea, "Meeting at a cruise or something like that would totally make sense. That could be how they grew apart!" 

"You don't become best friends with someone overnight, Luke," Emilia said, "It wouldn't be factual enough!" 

"When you meet the right person and click, you could be best friends within the hour," Luke said. 

"Maybe that's why so many friends grow apart so easily!" Emilia shouted. 

The whole room went silent with tension. Emilia's chest was rising and falling almost as fast as her heartbeat. 

"That was uncalled for..." Emilia said softly, breaking the silence, "And for that I apologise." 

"So no cruise then?" Luke asked, not wanting to talk about what happened. 

"If they do meet on a cruise, how would we bring the whole concept of reuniting into it?" Emilia asked, trying to understand his idea. 

"One of them could move into the same neighbourhood as the other after..let's say 5 years." Luke suggested.

"How long would the cruise be for?" Emilia asked, penning down the ideas. 

"A month?" 

"Seems plausible," Emilia mumbled to herself before asking, "How many cities would the ship be visiting?" 

"I know of a cruise than does 33 ports," Luke said, "But that cruise was for 100 days..."

"Do research on cruises..." Emilia said to herself as she wrote it down in her notebook. She looked at Luke, "Fine, we have our setting." 

Luke beamed. 

"Now we have 5 acts to write and only one setting down," Emilia thought out loud, twirling her pencil in her hands. 

"I don't know why you're so worried," Luke said, pulling the pillow closer to him, "We have a whole month to do this." 

"Who said I'm worried?" Emilia challenged. 

"You're twirling your pencil," Luke said, nodding his head towards her hand. 

Emilia dropped her pencil on the table as if it had burned her and turned away from Luke. 

"What's going on?" Luke asked her casually. 

"Nothing." She answered immediately, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

"You're nervous..." Luke pointed out. 

"Can we get back to Jake and Ally?" Emilia said more than asked. 

"Emilia, seriously, what's going on?" Luke asked her. 

"I have a date tonight, okay," Emilia said, talking to her book rather than Luke, "I've never really been on a proper date since-" 

"Since Bobby Parker in middle school," Luke finished, "I remember." 

"Bobby doesn't really count, but yeah," Emilia said, trying not to read too much into the fact that Luke remembered. 

"Who is it with?" Luke asked, hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was. 

"Cooper Atwood." Emilia answered. 

Luke deflated. He wanted to warn Emilia but he knew that it wouldn't mean much if he did because she didn't trust him. She hasn't trusted him for a long while and the fact that she was even telling him this was a feat. 

"You'll be fine." He assured her half heartedly. 

"Can we just back to Jake and Ally," She said quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear and reluctantly picking up the pencil. 

"What if their rooms were on opposite sides of the ship?" Luke suggested, wanting nothing more than to just talk to Emilia, tell her that she shouldn't be going on this date with Cooper. He wanted to tell her that Cooper was a dick! Cooper only played with people's feelings, he drew them in by becoming everything that a girl thinks she wants, then he does anything he can to get into their pants, and then he leaves them. He didn't want that for Emilia. 

She was too good for anyone. No one could ever and would ever be good enough for her. He knew that. 

"Luke!" Emilia said, snatching him away from his thoughts. 

"What?" 

"Were you even listening?" Emilia asked incredulously. 

"Sorry." Luke said, "What did you say?" 

"If they live on opposite sides of the ship, how would they meet?" 

"In the middle of the deck." 

"Halfway..." Emilia said, creating the scene in her head, "That's brilliant." 

"Don't sound too surprised," Luke said with a slight scoff, but mostly teasing. 

"Okay so after the ship..." Emilia started and the two kept discussing the story, building up this fantasy of Jake and Ally, two best friends that were so close and all of a sudden weren't anymore. 

"Crap!" Emilia said in the middle of her sentence, jumping off the chair and gathering her things. 

"What is it?" Luke asked, jumping out of bed at her urgency. 

"It's 6.45!" 

"So?" Luke asked. 

"Cooper is picking me up at 7.30 and I haven't done my make up or my hair or even picked out a dress yet!" Emilia told him. 

Luke scoffed and sat back down, "I thought it was something important." 

"I wouldn't expect you to understand," Emilia said, rolling her eyes at him, "You don't have a romantic bone in your body. Cooper isn't like you." 

"He's worse," Luke mumbled. 

"Shit! Heather isn't even picking up my calls!" Emilia said, running a hand through her hair, "I'm going to look like a mess." 

"I could help," Luke offered.

"What do you know about hair, dresses and make up?" Emilia asked, hoisting her bag over shoulder. 

"I'm a guy!" Luke told her, "I can tell you what looks nice and what doesn't."

"No thanks." Emilia said immediately, "I'll take my chances."

Luke watched as Emilia gripped her bag with one hand, clutching harder than necessary as she exited the room. Luke sighed and got off the bed, dragging his bag to the study table and decided that he might as well get some work done to keep his mind distracted. He took his books out and glanced up, into Emilia's room and saw her walking into her bathroom with a pile of clothes and her towel neatly folded over her arm. 

He was halfway through finishing a math problem when he saw movement in Emilia's room. He glanced up and saw her [walking out of the bathroom with a messy top knot and glasses on her face](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=220912201). She was biting her lip and playing with the ends sticking out of her bun. Luke tried to hold back a smile at how much Emilia was overthinking this date. Suddenly, he felt this pang hit him. He couldn't identify it but it was a mixture of jealousy and sadness. He shook away these thoughts and kept his head down, focusing only on the math problem and not any other problem that popped up in his head.

Emilia spread her wet towel on the chair and let her loose from its messy top knot. She quickly put it in a french braid and did whatever basic makeup she could manage without Heather. She wasn't the worst at makeup, but neither was she the best. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that she only had about 15 minutes until Cooper would come. She darted into her closet and picked up a dress that she deemed acceptable for a date. 

She changed behind the cupboard door and looked at herself in the small mirror that she had attached there. She stepped out rom behind the cupboard and twirled around in the plain blue dress while looking at herself in the full length mirror. She glanced into Luke's room and saw him looking at her with a blank expression on his face. She sighed and turned to face him, silently asking for his opinion. 

Luke tried to hide a smug smile at the fact that Emilia was asking for his opinion. She stood there waiting with her arms by her side, one clutching the side of the dress and the other on her hip. She raised her eyebrows and he immediately shook his head know. He sniggered when he saw her audibly groan. She mouthed something to him but he didn't see it. 

'What?' He mouthed at her. 

'Why?' Was all she mouthed back. 

Luke grabbed an empty A4 sheet of paper from his desk and with sharpie wrote in big black letters - **DRESS TOO PLAIN**  and then held it up for her to see. 

Emilia nodded and disappeared behind the cupboard door. Luke thought that he had somehow offended Emilia and sighed, hanging his head in his hands. He sighed and went back to his math problem. He should've known that they couldn't be friends anymore. Her asking for his opinion was a one time thing and he shouldn't have held his hopes too high, even if they were at the back of his mind. 

Luke saw big movements from the corner of his eye as if someone was trying to get his attention. He looked up from his notebook and saw Emilia in a different dress. She twirled for him and came to a stop, silently seeking approval. Luke's eyes darted to the off shoulder red polka dotted dress that ended just below her knees and shook his head. Luke quickly scribbled **TOO CASUAL. NOT DATE-ISH** and held it up to the window.

Emilia frowned and sighed, a stray piece of hair falling in front of her eyes. She blew it away while walking toward the cupboard making Luke laugh. This time Luke just leaned back in his chair, waiting for her to come out with a new choice. He picked the marker off the desk and started twirling it around, not realising that a smile was on his face. 

That smile was quickly wiped off, replaced with Luke's jaw falling slightly at the sight of Emilia in this dress. He could sense her hesitation as she walked out from her little nook in the closet and out in front of him. She was gripping the dress as she twirled and then stopped right in front of Luke. She raised her eyebrows while biting her lip, silently asking for his opinion. 

Luke quickly scribbled the words **You're Beautiful**  and then immediately scratched it out. He couldn't tell her that. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't. So he didn't. He couldn't possibly articulate how gorgeous she looked in that pale pink dress that ended just above her knees. He knew that this was just a one time thing and that come the end of the night, she will be back to just tolerating him. 

Luke grabbed another piece of paper and just wrote down in big capital letters **THAT'S THE DRESS**  and held it up to Emilia with a small smile. Emilia grinned and looked down at the dress with glee and went back to the closet. A minute later, she appeared and held up to pairs of shoes to the window - one white and the other nude. Luke grabbed an empty piece of paper and held it up, showing that he preffered the white instead. 

Emilia was excited. She was so excited that she was literally counting down the seconds until the bell ranr or the door knocked. She didn't even notice how Luke was watching every move. She walked out the door after grabbing a small white bag to match her shoes and closed it behind her, choosing to wait downstairs instead. Just as she reached the bottom stair, the bell rang. She took a deep breath to prepare herself, looking down at the dress one last time to make sure that it was perfect. She opened the door and smiled. 

"Hey," She greeted in a soft voice. 

"Hi." Cooper said with a nervous smile, "You look...wow!" 

"Thank you," She said, her cheeks burning. 

"Ready to go?" He asked, holding out his hand to her. 

"Ready!" She proclaimed, taking his hand. He intertwined their hands and closed the door behind her, walking her out to his car. 

Luke stood next to his window, watching this exchange take place, his hands balled in a fist. He knew Cooper's reputation and he knew how Cooper used girls to his advantage, treating each one as a challenge. Cooper was a douche, even to Luke's eyes and there was no way he would let his best-his ex best friend be hurt by him! 

Luke grabbed his jacket and his phone, ready to follow them when he realised how that would look. He deflated. Luke couldn't go after Emilia and Cooper, he didn't have a reason to. Emilia was his neighbour and Cooper was his teammate. Luke had a standard he had to adhere to. He couldn't help even if he wanted to and he really, really wanted to. 

The only thing he could do was wait. So he did. 

He waited for hours, looking up from what he thought was studying every couple of seconds to see if she had come back yet. He waited to see if she was okay, if she was safe...If she was happy with him. A part of him wished that she didn't enjoy herself, but he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. 

He heard something and quickly snapped his head up to see Cooper's car stop in front of Emilia's house. Cooper got out first, jogging to open Emilia's door. He could practically see her blushing from here. He leaned in and whispered something in Emilia's ear and she giggled. Cooper then took her hand and led her to her front door. 

Luke didn't think he could watch anymore, so he walked to his bed and plopped down on it. He grabbed a pillow and clutched it to his chest. He was just about to close his eyes when a light suddenly poured into his room; it was Emilia's room light. He heard a soft scream and quickly jumped up from his bed and ran to the window. 

He sighed in relief when he realised it was Emilia jumping up and down and squealing. She's adorable. This time he didn't push the thought of her being his friend aside. At least if they're friends, he could tell her how he really felt about Cooper, about them together. He missed her. He saw their abandoned treehouse in the corner of his eye and the memories of them just flooded him. He was filled with childlike wonder and regret..So much regret. 

Emilia needed to talk to someone right now! Heather wasn't in town and she didn't really have anyone else that she was super close to. She needed to talk about the wonderful date that she just had. Not to mention the amazing kiss she shared with Cooper! Oh she didn't know how soft lips could feel or how wonderful they could feel against hers. She [came out of the bathroom](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=221060662),after changing and taking off her makeup stil giddy and estatic. She walked to her bed and grabbed her journal. She had never been more excited to write about her day.

> _Today was absolutely amazing! Cooper took me out on an amazing date! I found out we have so much in common and he's so sweet and funny! I hope this means what I think it means. Today I learnt that Cooper has the softest lips and is an amazing kisser and has wonderful hair and is such a gentleman! I can't wait to see him again!_

She put her journal back under her mattress and walked to the window. She needed to thank Luke for helping her. She saw him looking back at her and she smiled, making him shoot her a small smile too. She climbed out onto her balcony and he opened his window, just like they would do when they were younger. It felt right to both of them, like muscle memory. 

"You look happy," Luke commented, running a hand through his blonde hair, "So I take the date went well?" 

"It was amazing! Cooper is such a gentleman and we have so much in common!" Emilia said with a grin on her face, "I never expected someone like him to be so...so caring and sweet." 

"Someone like him? What does that mean?" 

"A jock." Emilia said. 

"Not all jocks are dicks," Luke told her before mumbling to himself, "He is though." 

"Other than Cooper I haven't met a single nice jock that didn't make stupid degrading jokes," Emilia scoffed. 

"I don't." Luke said immediately, but quickly regretted it. 

"Clearly you and I have different memories then." Emilia said, her giddiness replaced with anger. 

"Emilia-" Luke started to say but she wasn't having it. 

"I just came to thank you for your help." Emilia said, brushing him off, "I'll see you at school, Luke." 

"Emilia!" Luke tried again but Emilia turned around, walking back into her room. 

Luke hoped that she would come back and they could finally resolve this fight that has been dragged out for years. 

She didn't.


	7. Chapter 7

Emilia was [sitting cross legged on her bed,](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_357/set?id=221599132) an island amongst a sea of books. A pen was in her mouth as she was furiously typing away on her laptop. Her glasses were falling down her nose but she couldn't be bothered to push it back up, fearful of losing the point that she was debating for her AP Literature class. 

"And that is why, although Iago is egocentric and egotistical, he is in no way the true villain of the play Othello," She said loud and proud of her point, hitting the last key with fervor. 

She grinned and leaned back on her bed, expecting to hit the soft cotton of her new pillow, but instead hitting a hardcover textbook. Her hand went up immediately to soothe the now forming bump on her head. 

She heard a little 'plink' from her window but ignored it, thinking that it was just rain. She heard it again and her head whipped to the window to see nothing. 

"I really must be going crazy," She mumbled, moving the hardcover textbook from behind her, her head now hitting the soft cotton of the pillow. She nuzzled it, ready to take a power nap when she heard the sound again. 

She sighed and got off the bed, opening her window and climbing outside. 

"Finally! I thought I would have to throw a rock or something at your window," Luke said, leaning against the window pane of his room. 

"What were you throwing? Pebbles?!" Emilia asked. 

"Yeah. They were in my room," Luke said like it was no big deal. 

"You just happened to have pebbles in your room?" Emilia said, cocking her eyebrow. 

"Uhh no," Luke said, scratching the back of his neck, "I still had some left over from when we used to..." 

"Oh." Emilia said in a voice barely over a whisper, her mind reeling with memories of the times they used to be friends. Just another tactic they used to use. She remembered the day that Luke told her that he used to collect every pebble he found and stock them in a shoebox under his bed. 

They stood there in an awkward silence, neither one of them knowing what to say next. 

"What did you want, Luke?" Emilia finally said. 

"What?" 

"You clearly wanted my attention for something," She said, "What was it?" 

"Oh right!" Luke said, "You didn't come over for the English project today, so I thought you'd forgotten.." 

"It's Saturday." Emilia informed him. 

"So?" 

"I thought you made it very clear that Saturdays were for nothing but soccer practice." 

"Football." Luke corrected her, "For the millionth time, Emilia, it's called Football!" 

"Football, soccer, it makes no difference," Emilia rolled her eyes, "It's just an over-glorified game of fetch." 

"Well _football_  practice got cancelled today- coach is out sick," Luke told her, "We can get some work done."

Emilia sighed and looked at the time - 1.15pm. 

"Fine, but only for a couple of hours, I have plans at night." Emilia told him, ready to go back in and pack her stuff. 

"What plans do _you_  have?" Luke asked her with piqued interest. 

"Luke..." She said exasperated. 

"Oh come on!" He teased. 

"I have a date with Cooper tonight." She said and watched as Luke went from grinning to a blank expression in less than a second. She shook her head and told him, "I'll be over in 5 minutes," before climbing back into her room. 

Luke only had 5 minutes. That was the first thought that ran through his mind. He didn't know what he was doing until he was stood in front of his very shocked mother.

"What is it? Why do you look like you have just seen a ghost?" She asked him. 

"Can we invite the Hope's over for dinner today?" The words tumbled out of his mouth. 

"What?" 

"Can we?" Luke asked again, "The Hope's...For dinner today." 

"I guess," His mother said, shrugging, "Why do you want them over, anyway?" 

Luke couldn't come up with an answer without Emilia's name in it. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to try something. 

The bell rang and Luke looked at the door. His mom, put down her mug of steaming coffee on the table, but Luke stopped her. 

"Call them after I go upstairs, okay?" Luke told her. 

"Luke, move, I have to answer the door," His mother told him. 

"No! Don't!" He said, stepping in front of her, "I'll answer it." 

"You're acting so weird today," His mother muttered under her breath, shaking her head at his antics and sitting back down at the table. She took a sip of her coffee before she saw the reason why trailing behind her son with a scowl on her face. The scowl quickly turned into a bright smile as she greeted the older lady with a hello. The older lady shared plesentaries with the younger girl, remembering the days when the two children used to get into lots of mischief together, creating havoc and ruckus everywhere they went. Now they barely share a look. 

She put her mug down, picking up her phone and dialing a number. 

"Hello, Susan?" She said into the phone, "It's Liz. What are your plans tonight?" 

 

"Where did we stop last?" Emilia asked Luke, sitting in what's seeming to be _her_  place - bag neatly placed against the table leg, notebook open with her pen in her hand and on the 'spinny chair' as she called it. 

"Jake and Ally." 

"Wow, thank you for that informative insight," She said with sarcasm dripping from her every word. Emilia started to flip through her notes, finding the exact spot they stopped at. "Right! The fight. So, Jake and-" 

"Do you like him??" Luke asked, cutting her off.

"Excuse me?" Emilia said more than asked. 

"Cooper." Luke said, "Do you like him?" 

Emilia just looked at him with a cocked eyebrow, "I hardly think that's any of your business." 

"Seemed to be my business a couple of days ago when I was helping you pick out an outfit for your date." Luke quipped back. 

"So the fight between Jake and Ally," Emilia said firmly, looking down at her notes, "We decided that it would be over someone that one of them didn't like. Seems ironic now, doesn't it?" 

"Who said I don't like him." Luke said. 

"We should change the storyline," Emilia suggested, ignoring him. 

"I'm talking to you, Emilia." Luke said. 

"And I'm not interested!" She snapped, closing her book with a snap. "God, Luke! Be mature for once in your goddamn life!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" 

"Is this what you called me here for?!" 

"I didn't even know you were going out with him until you told me!" Luke said, throwing the blame at her. 

"You asked!" Emilia scoffed. "You can't seriously be blaming me for your irrational behaviour!" 

"You were the one who-" Luke started to argue but got cut off. 

"Do you want to do this project or not?!" Emilia said, "'Cause if you don't, I have no problem doing it myself!"

"Knowing the teacher's pet, you would probably tattle on me anyway," Luke scoffed, "Looks like I have no choice but to do it." 

Emilia shook her head, trying to ward away the frustrated tears that were threatening to spill. "Let's just get this over and done with." 

"Fine." Luke said, crossing his arms. 

"Fine." Emilia echoed, turning her back on him. 

They sat in an awkward, tension filled silence, neither one wanting to give up their pride. Emilia sighed. This was not how she was raised. She was always respectful, even when she was hurt. She had to be the one to break the silence, even if it wasn't her fault. She was about to give in, her heart feeling heavier, when Luke shattered the silence. 

"It wasn't my place to get mad at you," Luke said, suddenly finding the piece of lint on the floor interesting, "I didn't mean to snap." 

"It's okay." Emilia told him, her voice softer than a whisper. 

"Shall we get back to Jake and Ally?" He asked her, looking up now. 

"Yeah." 

"Hey!" Luke said, perking up, wanting to lighten the mood, "The good thing about this fight is that we can use it as inspiration!" 

Emilia let out a little laugh, trying to put the fight behind her. 

 

~~~

 

"Emilia, honey?" Her mother called out from the living room as Emilia walked into the house after the session with Luke. 

"Yeah mom?" She answered, locking her phone and walking into the room where her mother was. 

"Be ready by 6.30, we're going to the Hemmings' for dinner tonight." Her mother informed her. 

"I have plans tonight, mom," Emilia said, "I'll go next time." 

"Cancel." Her mother said. 

"Mom! This is really important to me and I could always go next time-" Emilia started to argue but her mother stopped her. 

"Emilia Hope!" Her mother interjected, "I told you the last dinner you missed that you would be going for the next one." 

"Mom! Please! I don't-" 

"This is not up for argument." Her mother said with finality. "You _will_  be ready tonight and on your _best_  behaviour. Understood?" 

 

~~~

 

"Do you need help, mom?" Luke asked her, his hands in his pockets. 

"What do you want, Luke?" His mother joked, trying to hide a smirk. 

"To help my mother like the nice boy I am," He said innocently, grabbing the plates and setting them down on the table. 

"Don't forget to put a plate out for Emilia!" His mother reminded him. 

"Will she actually come this time?" He tried to ask nonchalantly. 

"Her mother assured me that she would." 

"We'll see," He muttered under his breath. 

"You never did tell me why you two fell out..." His mother said, trailing off with hopes that he would open up to her. 

"For a reason." He said, simply. 

"What was that reason?" She asked, looking at her cooking rather than at her son. 

"Mom." Luke warned. 

"I just think we don't talk enough," She said. 

"Mom!" 

"After your father left us, I just want-" She started to say, her voice heavier. 

"Are you really playing the dad card right now?" Luke scoffed, shaking his head humorously. 

"I thought it would work!" She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You know how I feel about the dad card," Luke said, trying to make light of the situation. 

"Luke..." His mother said, turning around to face him, "You know that what happened with your father wasn't your fault, right? He wasn't -" 

"Mom, please." Luke told her, looking at her with steely eyes that held so much more behind the surface, "I don't want to talk about it." 

"You should go get freshened up," She told him, tucking her hair behind her ears. 

"Mom, you know I didn't mean it like that..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair, struggling to find the words, "What happened with dad was just..." 

"I know, sweetie." She said. 

"Anything else I can help with?" He asked, finished with setting the table. 

"No. I'll finish up here," She said with a smile, "You go get freshened up and come downstairs." 

 

~~~

 

Emilia had just gotten off the phone with Cooper, who was completely understanding of the situation. Somehow, that just made it worse for her. She had no idea why this dinner came along all of a sudden. She wanted to be mad at her mother, at Mrs. Hemmings too, but she just couldn't. 

She did promise her mother that she would go for the next Hemmings' dinner and it wasn't like Mrs. Hemmings knew of her plans with Cooper. 

She was incredibly annoyed at the fact that she couldn't get mad. 

She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration and walked over to her closet, grabbing the first dress in her 'Appropriate' part of the closet and changed. She was tempted to look into Luke's window to gauge his reaction to the dress, but decided against it. 

"Emilia! Are you ready?" She heard her mother call from the stairs. 

"5 minutes, mom!" She answered back, putting on lipstick and a statement necklace that Heather gifted her. 

She looked in the mirror and tousled her hair a little more, before deeming herself appropriate for the dinner. She walked over to the closet to grab a pair of shoes and sat on the bed, putting them on. She happened to glance up into Luke's room and saw that he had just gotten out of the bathroom, his hair damp and wearing nothing but a pair of black skinny jeans. 

She was frozen. She had never even thought of Luke as a hot guy, but she couldn't deny that he had done some growing up (to put it lightly) since they were best friends. Puberty had hit both of them and neither one denied that the other was attractive. She could not take her eyes off his bare chest that was toned, firm and still wet. Her eyes trailed down his chest, following a single droplet from his neck to his pecs and down his washboard abs that honestly looked like it belonged in an Abercrombie and Fitch commercial. She immediately got out of her daze when the thought of running her hand down his chest entered her mind. 

"What is wrong with me?" She muttered, chastising herself, quickly putting on her white high heeled shoes and [walking out of the room.](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_359/set?id=221747636)

Luke heard the doorbell ring just as he put his shirt on. He looked into Emilia's room on instict, hoping that he wouldn't see her there. Her lights were on and Luke immediately deflated. She wasn't coming and that meant that she was with Douche-per. 

 _Note to self_ , Luke thought, _Find better insults that match Cooper's name_. 

"Luke!" His mother called from the bottom of the stairs. Luke sighed and trudged downstairs, ready to spend another two and a half hours in an awkward dinner, talking about nothing but the weather, or what gossip is going around with the older ladies, or the sports season with Emilia's father. 

"Hello everyone!" Luke greeted as he was descending the stairs, almost tripping over when he saw Emilia appear from behind her mother with a polite smile on her face. 

"Luke," Emilia greeted. 

"Hey," He replied with a voice barely over a whisper and quickly overcompensated by clearing his throat and repeating himself. 

"Ready for the big game next week, Luke?" Emilia's father asked him after the younger boy greeted him. 

"Definitely!" Luke grinned, "We can definitely make Nationals this year!" 

"With you as the striker, I'm confident we will!" The older man said, slapping the younger boys back. 

"Luke why don't you and Emilia, what are the kids saying these days, nextflix and chill for a while before dinner." His mother told him with a grin, oblivious to what she had just implied. 

Emilia stood there, red as a tomato while Luke struggled to get his jaw off the ground. 

"That's not..." He stuttered, "That doesn't mean what you think it means, mom!" 

"Go hang!" She said, still oblivious, "Chillax!" 

The only thing running through Emilia's mind, other than complete and utter shock, was the scene from Mean Girls. _I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom!_  

"We're gonna..." Luke said and practically ran upstairs, with Emilia taking her time walking upstairs.

"Oh crap! I left the light on in my room!" Emilia sighed, and took her 'regular' seat in Luke's room on the spinny chair. She couldn't keep her eyes off her room, thinking about how much electricity she was wasting. 

"Oh, I didn't even notice," Luke lied through his teeth. 

Emilia sighed. 

"What is it?" Luke asked. 

"I can't tell you." She said, simply.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to start another fight." She replied.

"Then we won't fight," Luke shrugged, "Come on, tell me." 

"I really wanted to see Cooper tonight," She said forlonly, "It was the only day in 2 weeks that he was free. With the game and my extra curriculars, we hardly get any time together." 

Luke didn't feel guilty even for a split second. Cooper wasn't good for her and there was no way Luke was going to stay in the side lines and watch Cooper use Emilia and toss her aside once he had his fun. He's seen it happen one too many times. 

"You know..." Emilia said, standing up from her spot and walking towards the window, "It's not that far from here to my window." 

"You're not seriously suggesting that you want to sneak out of here, are you?" Luke said with a laugh. 

"I could do it!" Emilia told him. 

"I don't have the balcony anymore, Emilia," Luke reminded her, "You can't make the jump anymore." 

"Ahh yes, the 'Great Remodel of '08'!" She said, memories flooding back. 

"Remember how much you cried?" Luke said, laughing. 

"I didn't cry at all, Mr. How-Will-I-Sneak-In-Now-Emmy?" Emilia said, hitting his chest playfully. 

"You cried so much I had to throw away my favourite red shirt!" Luke accused, "It was covered in so much snot in tears." 

"Shut up, Lu!" She said, playfully. 

"Do you remember the Treehouse?" He asked with excitement twinkling in his eyes. 

"You mean the one exactly 65 steps from both our windows?" She answered with a grin. 

He grinned at the fact that she still remembered, "Do you remember when Bobby form down the road tried to get in?" 

"You pushed him off and almost broke his hand!" She said, "Of course I remember!" 

"Okay first off, I didn't push him off," He defended with a laugh, "It was more of a...gentle shove?" 

"You bought him ice cream after though, so that's fair." 

"Yeah about that, Emmy...." Luke said. 

"Oh god, what did you do to poor Bobby," Emilia gasped, "Are you why he moved in with his dad in Florida?" 

"I made him buy me ice cream, not the other way around." Luke confessed, laughing. 

"Lu!" Emilia said, pushing his shoulder. 

"I'm not sure if you're mad at the fact that I made him buy me ice cream after I almost broke his hand or that I lied to you." 

"I'm mad that you didn't share the ice cream!" 

They settled into this comfortable silence for 30 seconds before they realised what just happened.

She called herself Emmy for the first time in years! She let him call her Emmy too. What's more surprising is the fact that she called him Lu. It may seem like a common nickname to give him, but it was one that no one and he stood firm on this even till today; no one except Emilia was allowed to call him Lu. 

They looked at each other with mirrored expressions of gaped mouths and wide eyes. Neither one knew what this meant and neither one wanted to be the first one to break the silence. They didn't know where they stood anymore. Emilia was still angry, still hurt and so was Luke. Both had wounds that still haven't healed. Both kept those wounds raw with their old habits that never died - old pictures, looking into the window, the treehouse that neither one could let go of...

They still cared and both of them knew it. 

This whole conversation, as much as they didn't want to admit it, didn't mean anything. He was still 'Jock Luke' and she was still a nobody. 

"Luke! Emilia!" His mother called out, "Dinner's ready!"

Luke cleared his throat, getting up from the bed, his hand brushing Emilia's slightly. He quickly put his hand in his jean pocket and opened his room door. Emilia stood up, smoothening out her dress and walking out the door that Luke was holding open for her. 

"What were you kids doing up there?" Luke's mother asked as they sat down on the dinner table, opposite each other. 

"Nothing."   
"Nothing." They answered in unison.

"Oh Susan, do you remember when they were younger..." Luke's mother started to say and the adults talked about the teenager's pasttimes while the two sat quietly, torn between listening and remembering every single detail, or tuning everything out. 

"I miss those days." Emilia's mother said with nostalgia. 

"Us being together again just seems right, doesn't it?" Luke's mother said with a smile, "I'm so glad Luke suggested that we should have dinner today." 

Emilia's head snapped up to Luke, rage burning in her eyes. "I'm sorry. What did you just say, Mrs. Hemmings?" 

"Luke practically begged me to host dinner tonight." She replied, oblivous to the tension brewing between the two. 

"When did he ask you?" Emilia asked, trying to calm her tone down. 

Luke tried to signal his mother not to say anything, but she wasn't looking, "Today, in the afternoon." 

"May I be excused," Emilia said, more than asked, not waiting for a response as she scraped her chair across the floor loudly, rage bubbling within her.

"Excuse me." Luke muttered under his breath, preparing himself for the worst. He walked to the backyard where he could see Emilia visibly fuming. He sighs before saying, "I can explain." 

"Then explain it to me, Luke!" She practically screamed, "I don't understand you! You already knew how much tonight meant to me! For god's sake! We had a whole argument about this!" 

"Emilia, you didn't listen when I warned you about Cooper and I just-" 

"So you did this on purpose then?!" She yelled, "You have no right to-" 

"No right?! Emilia I'm your-" Luke started to say but immediately stopped himself. 

"You're my _what_ , Luke?! My what? My friend? My boyfriend? My father? My brother?" She listed out, getting louder and louder, "You're nothing but my neighbour and unfortunately my English partner! In case you forgot, _you're_  the one who wanted it to be this way!" 

"You know that's not true Emm-" Luke said but quickly got cut off. 

"No!" Emilia shouted, pointing a finger at him, "You don't get to do that! You don't get to call me 'Emmy'. You lost that right a long time ago. You can't just decide to waltz back in and pretend to be this person you're not. You did that already Luke, and look where that's gotten you." 

Luke stood silent. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to even try and this point. Everything has changed and although for some reason, he was getting nostalgic, he knew that him and Emilia could never be friends again. They had too much history between them, too much tension that could never be resolved.

"Once we finish this English project, you can go back to pretending like I don't exist," Emilia told him, and then muttered, "We know you've become an expert at that by now." 

She walked back into the house, slamming the door behind her, leaving Luke outside in the cold. 

"Thank you for the wonderful dinner, Mrs. Hemmings." She said under her breath to the table of adults that clearly heard the heated conversation, "It was really nice."

"Leaving already, sweetie?" Mrs. Hemmings said, clearing her throat. 

"Yes. My apologies but I have to study," Emilia lied and thanked her again before walking back home.

Emilia clearly remembered as a child how thankful she was that Luke's house, her bestestest friend in the whole world's house, was right next to hers. She remembered how Luke and her drew up a whole plan and sat their parent's down together and presented their plans - no fences in between them anymore, a giant treehouse right smack in the middle where the fences used to be and last but not least, a playground in front of the treehouse. 

Right now, she regretted that. Walking to her house from the Hemmings, she could see Luke who was standing in front of the Treehouse that they created together, watching her every move. She ignored him and walked faster to the front door, slamming it behind her and running up to her room.

She stared at her curtains, contemplating drawing them and shutting Luke out - the one thing they promised they would never do, but she felt hesitant. Even after everything, she just couldn't do it. This only fueled her rage. 

She walked into her closet, stripped off her clothes and [tossed them to one side and changed. ](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=222433414) 

She walked over to her drawer and took out her journal and angrily penned:

> _Today I got into 2 major fights with Luke. He's such an ass! I don't understand what his problem is. I even had to miss my date with Cooper!! Today I learnt that there really is an expiration date on friendship and mine and Luke's ended a long time ago._


	8. Chapter 8

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Heather asked Emilia with a cocked eyebrow. 

"I just don't get how even while wearing a hoodie, you look so hot!" [Emilia whined.](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_365/set?id=222950716) 

"It's called confidence," [Heather told her](https://www.polyvore.com/untitled_364/set?id=222839338), flipping her long straightened blonde hair melodramatically, "Anyways, there's a reason I'm wearing a hoodie today." 

"And that is?" Emilia asked, clutching her books to her chest. 

"Oh come on, don't act like you don't know," Heather said. 

"I really don't." Emilia told her.

"So you wore that short, off shoulder dress on purpose then?" Heather asked. 

"I like this dress..." Emilia mumbled self-consciously, "And it's not that short." 

"The pep rally!" Heather said, ignoring her comment.

"Why would you think I would know about that?" Emilia asked, watching Heather close her locker door, look at her and sigh. 

"Your boyfriend!" Heather said, sighing at the fact that she had to remind her friend about this. 

"He's not my boyfriend," Emilia said, her face flush. 

"Yet." Heather reminded her, "But, it will all change tonight." 

"What are you talking about?" 

"How did you survive so long without me?" Heather said with a shake of her head. 

"I didn't." Emilia deadpanned, "Now tell me." 

"He's going to give you his jacket with his name and number on it, Em!" Heather said, wanting to shake her friend to get some sense into her. 

"So?" 

"That will tell everyone that you're his!" Heather said, dragging Emilia off the locker and onto the hallway. "And then he will take you across the hallway and everyone will definitely know that you're together." 

"Ahh yes, because girls need to be paraded around," Emilia said with a roll of her eyes. 

"It's tradition." Heather said. 

"It's not going to happen," Emilia said, "Things like this don't happen to girls like me." 

"Girls like you? What's that supposed to mean?" 

"The invisibles." Was all Emilia could say. 

"You're not invisible, Em!" Heather told her, "You're beautiful and you're smart." 

"You do realise that you're my only friend here, don't you?" Emilia told her, "Open your eyes, Heather! If it wasn't for you, I would be all alone." 

"Don't say that Emilia!" Heather chastised, "You-" 

"I need to go to class," Emilia said with a sad smile, "I'll see you at lunch." 

 

Luke was walking with his head held high to keep the imaginary crown on it from falling - he was like royalty of the school anyway. How could he not be? He was the captain of the soccer team, dating the head cheerleader, popular as hell, all eyes were constantly on him. He was like Prince William, but with better hair and a killer body. Plus with the upcoming pep rally, everybody couldn't stop staring more than usual. 

He walked into English class with a smug smirk and attempted to focus his attention on everyone except Emilia. It didn't work, but at least he knew he tried.

One thing that Luke learnt about Emilia from the time that they were friends, was that everything you needed to know, was in her eyes. As much as she tried, and trust him, she really tries, to hide her emotions it just never worked. Her eyes really were the window into her beautiful soul.

She was sad and he could tell from her doe brown eyes. He itched to ask what was wrong, but he didn't. 

He simply ignored her. He wanted to blame it on the fight they had a couple of days ago, but he knew he would just be lying to himself. This was just the way things had to be and he accepted that a long time ago. Or at least he thought he did. 

"Hey baby," He heard as [Victoria slid](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=223432778) in the seat next to his, overpowering his smell with her perfume. 

"Hey." Luke greeted with a flashy smile, already feeling eyes on him. 

"You look _really_  good today," She complimented, her hands on his arms, a seductive smile on her face. 

"So do you," He said, not able to take his eyes off her tight shirt that accentuated her large breasts. 

"You like?" She asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder and pushing her chest out, "I got it on sale yesterday."

"Mhmm," Luke said. 

"You know you never did tell me what happened on Saturday when you called," Victoria said, leaning in.

"What?" Luke asked, head snapping up to look at her. 

"Saturday night..." She reminded him, "When you called out of the blue and asked me where I was..." 

"Oh." Was all Luke said. 

"So what happened?" She asked him again, "Why were you so out of it?" 

"Can't even remember now." Luke lied with his signature smile. 

"I must have done a really good job then," Victoria fished. 

"You always do," Luke said, his gaze unconsciously drifting to Emilia who had her nose in a book.

 

"Okay everyone that's the bell," The teacher said to her students who were fervently packing to get out, "Your English projects are due in exactly a week and a half!"

Emilia sighed as she hoisted her bag on her shoulder, regretting what she said to Heather before class. She knew it was true, but she's never voiced it.

Did it suck? Yes.   
But does she wish she could change it? Not really. 

She liked her invisibility. She wouldn't change it if she had a choice. She didn't want all eyes on her and what she was wearing. She didn't want her every move being judged - who she was dating, her GPA, how much booze she could drink in one day, how many parties she attended. She liked being the way she was. 

"Emilia, can you hang back for a second?" The teacher called out. 

"Did I do something wrong?" Emilia asked as soon as the last student was out of the door.

"No, no," The teacher assured, "I just wanted to check up on your progress with the English assignment." 

"It's fine," Emilia shrugged. 

"No problems with Hemmings?" 

"Nothing I can't handle," Emilia mumbled to herself. 

"What was that?"

"No problems at all," Emilia lied. 

"That's good to hear." 

"Did you get a chance to read my paper on Iago?" Emilia asked. 

"Not yet but I'm looking forward to it," The teacher complimented. 

"See you tomorrow!" Emilia said with a grin. 

"Hey Emilia!" She heard as she exited the room, making her jump slightly, "Oh sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Is hanging around classrooms your thing or...?" She teased, trying not to blush just at the sight of him. 

"For you, yeah," Cooper flirted. 

Emilia giggled, clutching her books closer to her chest. 

"What are your plans tonight?" Cooper asked, shoving his hands in his pockets, trying to be subtle. 

"Umm," Emilia said, not sure what to answer, "Homework, I guess?" 

"You're not going to the pep rally?" He asked, disappointed. 

"Pep rally?" She said, acting coy. 

"Yeah the pep rally tonight for school spirit," He answered, "Since we have a game this week." 

"I guess I can come if you want me too." She told him, biting her lip nervously. 

"Yeah I would love it if you came," He said, leaning against the wall. 

"Then I'll come." She said with a grin. 

"There's one more thing..." Cooper said, nervously.

"What is it?" She asked with piqued interest. 

"There's this tradition that the girlfriend's of the players wear their jackets during the pep rally," Cooper explained.

"I-Is this your way of, umm, asking me to be your girlfriend?" Emilia stuttered and stumbled nervously. 

"Yeah." Cooper breathed out, before nervously rambling, "I mean I know I should be more romantic, with flowers and chocolates but I just -" 

"Cooper!" Emilia stopped him mid ramble. 

"So what do you say?" He asked. 

"Yes. I'll be your girlfriend!" She said excitedly, with a grin on her face. 

Cooper smiled back at her and leaned down, putting his hand on her hip to bring her closer to him as he captured her lips with his. 

Normally Emilia would hate public displays of affection and would question how a person was confident enough to be able to kiss someone so publicly, but she never had a proper boyfriend either, so she was all up for trying new things. 

"I'll catch you after class, okay?" He told her as he pulled away. 

Emilia nodded, biting her lip and nervously scratching away on the back cover of her copy of Othello. 

"I'll be the one by the door," He teased while winking at her. 

While Cooper was walking away, Emilia leaned back on the wall and touched her lips unconsciously, as if not believing what happened. 

 

"Hey Coop," Luke greeted as he entered the locker room, "You ready for the pep rally?" 

"Now more than ever," Cooper said with a grin that he wasn't able to get off his face. 

"Okay?" Luke mumbled, changing into his jersey. "Hey are you going for the afterparty at Ron's house?" 

"I might," Cooper answered, "I'm not sure yet." 

"Cooper Atwood missing a party?" Luke said in a scandalous tone, walking to his gym locker.

"Which chick got their hooks in you now?" One of the boys shouted from across the room. 

Cooper simply laughed it off, opening his mouth to retort when the door busts open and a bunch of boys starting hooting and shouting. 

"What's going on guys?" Cooper asked. 

"Ron here gave his jacket to Debbie." 

"Get in, man!"   
"Ron's getting some tonight!" 

"Ron's not the only one," One of the guys shouted. 

"Who else?" Luke asked. 

"I saw a certain someone sporting Cooper's jacket in the hallway just now," Ron said. 

Luke held his breath. 

Cooper smiled a boyish, mischievious smile. 

"Who is it, Coop?" One of the boys asked.

"Emilia." Cooper announced with a grin on his face. 

"Hope?" A voice piped. 

Cooper nodded, the grin getting bigger. 

"Like the nerd Emilia Hope?" 

"She's smart," Cooper said, oblivious to Luke whose fists were balled up and eyes fueled with fire. 

"Guess she'll be teaching you things this time, eh?" Ron said earning hoots from the boys around him. 

"I heard that she's great at biology," One of the boys screamed, "Maybe she can show you that practically." 

Cooper simply laughed these comments off, but with each howl, each comment, each riot that that was flying so easily off these boys' mouth, Luke got more and more irritated and annoyed, the fire being poked and prodded at. His palm had been tattoed with crescent marks from his nails. Without thinking, he slammed his locker so hard that within nanoseconds, the locker room was pin drop silent. 

He had to think of an excuse and fast to keep up his appearance. 

"Let's go out there and show the school why they're here!" He shouted, trying to get the team riled up and ready to go. They screamed excitedly back, jumping around.

"Luke!" Cooper screamed over the sounds of his teammates, but Luke ignored him. Cooper pushed through the crowd gathered at the locker room door and pulled at Luke's arm. There was no way that Luke could ignore this. 

"What is it Coop?" Luke asked, innocently. 

"You okay, man?" 

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" He said more than asked. 

"You've just been acting weird, dude," Cooper commented. 

"Really?" Luke said and then lied, "I think I'm just worried about the game this week."

"We're going to kick those damn Eagles' butt!" Cooper said, slapping Luke supportively on the shoulder as if to reassure him, "And if you want we can always have extra drills and practices. Your call man; after all you are Captain." 

"So this new girl of yours," Luke said, pretending to forget her name, "Emily was it?" 

"Emilia Hope, your English partner," Cooper reminded him, annoyed that he didn't remember. 

"Right! Her..." Luke said, clearing his throat, "How long will this one stay?" 

"It's not like that, man!" Cooper said, letting out a little laugh, "She's not like the others." 

"Isn't that what you said about Rachel?" Luke said. 

"Yeah but Emilia is _really_  different." Cooper told him, "We met at a party and we just clicked." 

Luke opened his mouth to say something but got cut off by the Coach asking him to get his ass on the field.

 

 

"Do my eyes deceive me or is that Emilia Hope wearing Cooper Atwood's jacket?" Heather said dramatically as she approached Emilia on the bleachers. 

Emilia blushed, using her hair as a shield to cover it up. 

"When did this happen?! Tell me everything!" Heather demanded, sitting next to her friend and giving her all her attention. 

"After English class, in the hallway," Emilia told her. 

"That must have brightened up your mood," Heather commented. 

Emilia simply smiled.

"We have to talk about this," Heather said. 

"There's nothing to talk about," Emilia sighed, playing with the strings on the jacket, "I shouldn't have said anything."

"You've got to stop apologising for your feelings, Em," Heather said, shaking her head, "But we really do need to talk about this." 

"We really, really don't." Emilia said, hoping that Heather would just let it go. 

"Is that really how you feel about our friendship, Em?" Heather asked, hurt, "About yourself?" 

"It wasn't meant to be a bad thing Heather. I was just pointing out the obvious." 

"I don't think of you like that, Emilia and-" Heather started to say but the blares of horns interrupted her. 

The pep rally was starting and the students went crazy, cheering as each member of the team tore their way out of the paper banner, accompanied by a cheerleader. Everyone in the bleachers was on their feet and cheering louder and louder, shouting the names of their friends as the came out one by one. 

Emilia was clapping aimlessly until Cooper came through the banner, his eyes searching for her on the bleachers. Their eyes met, neither one able to stop themselves from smilng ear to ear. Cooper waved at her and she gave him a small wave followed by a thumbs up. Heather bumped her shoulder and winked at her friend who was beet red at this point. 

 

After the pep rally was over, Cooper ran straight to the bleachers. 

"I think you're wanted," Heather said with a smirk.

"What?" Emilia asked.

"Go!" Heather said with a sense of urgency, pushing her friend lightly to the front of the bleachers. 

"I'll see you later then," Emilia said in a soft voice, excitement building in her stomach. 

Emilia walked down to where Cooper was, with a smile that could not be wiped out. 

"Hey," Cooper greeted. 

"Hey yourself," She replied, unconsciously playing with he strings of his jacket, that was now hers. 

"How did you like the pep rally?" He asked. 

"There was a lot of pep," She joked. 

Cooper laughed and leaned forward, "So..." 

"So?" 

"How's the jacket?" He said, his hand pulling the string that she wasn't playing with. 

"I'm breaking it in," She told him, biting her lip to try and hide her mixed emotions of nervousness and excitement. She had never felt this way before. She had never had a boyfriend before so all of this was new territory and she was doing her best to navigate it. 

"You look good in it," Cooper complimented, pulling her closer to him. 

Emilia blushed and looked down. 

"What are your plans right now?" He asked. 

"Homework?" She said. 

"How would you feel about going to an afterparty with me?" Cooper asked.

"As your date?" She asked him. 

"I thought the date part was implied, since you're my girlfriend." 

"Maybe another time? I don't really..." Emilia stumbled. 

"Shall I drop you home?" Cooper said more than asked. 

"What about the party?" Emilia asked him. 

"You're more important," He said, making her blush. 

"You're sweaty," She said with a little giggle. 

"Give me 10 minutes?" He told her. 

"I'll wait." She said with a smile, "I'll be warm anyway." 

"Have I mentioned how amazing you look in my jacket, yet," He said, leaning in. 

"Once or twice." She joked, leaning in to meet him halfway. 

Their lips met in a sweet kiss, his more experienced lips moulding in with hers as his hand grabbed her hip softly, pulling her into him.

 

"Lukey, you okay?" Victoria asked, coming out of the changing room, [dressed up for the afterparty.](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=223549321)

"I should be," He muttered to himself, removing his gaze from Cooper and Emilia.

"Lukey?" Victoria said, stepping in front of him, "What's wrong?" 

"Nothing," He sighed, looking at his girlfriend, "I'm just tired from the pep rally." 

"Too tired to go to the afterparty?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

"Never." 

"I love you all sweaty like this," Victoria told him in a sultry voice.

Just as Luke was about to reply, Cooper jogged past him. 

"Coop!" Luke called out, removing Victoria's arms from his neck. 

"I can't really talk-" Cooper started to say but Luke ignored him. 

"You coming for the afterparty?" 

"No." Cooper answered.

"You're missing a party?" Luke asked, not believing his ears. 

"My girlfriend doesn't want to, man," Cooper answered with a smile on his face. 

"Girlfriend?" Luke scoffed, "Emilia doesn't want you going?" 

"No dude, she doesn't want to go," Cooper said. 

"So what?" Luke laughed, "Come dude! It'll be the party of the century!" 

"Have fun , Luke." Cooper said, brushing off his comment and walking into the changing room. 

"What was that about?" Luke scoffed, under his breath before involuntarily looking at Emilia who was trying her best not to jump up and down. She had this grin that he hadn't seen in a long time. Luke hated the fact that it wasn't him making her smile anymore. 

"He's just doing whatever he can to get laid, Lukey," Victoria said, "You know Coop." 

Luke rolled his eyes, and walked into the changing room, leaving Victoria behind. 

 

 

"Thanks for walking me home, Cooper, you really didn't have to." Emilia said in a soft voice. 

"Of course I did!" Cooper told her with excitement in his voice, "You're my girlfriend I have to do everything I can to make sure you're safe and happy." 

"I am safe and happy," She assured him. 

"My job's done then!" Cooper said. 

"Thank you, Cooper." She said again, both standing in front of the door, "I guess I better give you your jacket back then." 

"Don't," He said, stopping her from taking it off, "It's yours. A little something to miss me by." 

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," She told him, not understanding what he was trying to say. 

"Keep it," He told her, "It looks better on you than it does on me, anyway." 

Emilia smiled at him, not wanting to go inside. Cooper didn't want to leave her either. 

"Goodnight, Cooper." She said, putting her hands in the pockets of the jacket. 

"Goodnight, Emilia," He replied, leaning down to kiss her. 

She wanted to scream and shout and dance with excitement as soon as she was in the living room, but she didn't. She ran upstairs and couldn't keep the excitement in anymore. She jumped up and down and quickly [grabbed her journal](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=223549942), before she forgot

> _TODAY THE MOST WONDERFUL, AMAZING THING HAPPENED TO ME...COOPER ASKED ME TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND AND GAVE ME HIS JACKET AND WALKED ME HOME! I AM SO HAPPY AND EXCITED. TODAY I LEARNT THAT COOPER IS A SWEETHEART AND HONESTLY THE MOST AMAZING KISSER IN THE WHOLE WORLD._

That night, Emilia slept with Cooper's jacket and a smile that even God couldn't wipe from her face. She didn't once think about how her love of invisibility was about to go away.


	9. Chapter 9

"You want to what?" [Emilia asked ](https://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=224531307)him, her jaw on the floor with disbelief. 

"What's so wrong with that?" Luke asked her, not understanding her qualms. 

"It just doesn't make any sense," She told him. 

"How so?" He fired back, "It's a perfectly natural transition." 

"Jake and Ally can't fall in love, Luke," She sighed. 

"Give me one good reason why not?!" He said, sitting up on his bed and looking at her. 

"It's cliched!" She said, leaning forward while pointing her pen to him, making a point. 

"What's so wrong with cliche's?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow. 

"It's overdone," She said. 

"If that's your only reason then I think we should do it," He said. 

"It doesn't fit in with the story!" She said. 

"Of course it does!" 

"How so?" She asked. 

"Think about it," He said, leaning back, "We have to follow the Shakespeare style of having 5 acts. Act 1, they meet. Act 2, they become best friends. Act 3, they get seperated. Act 4, they meet up again and then Act 5, they can fall in love." 

"As opposed to the current Act 5?" Emilia asked. 

"If they just fight in Act 5 it would be so boring! It would be such an anti-climatic ending," Luke said with a groan, "This way, it's kind of expected." 

"How exactly does this fit in with the theme of recovery?" Emilia asked, caving in. 

"Recovery is the opposite of loss, similar to retrieving something," Luke said, "They're gaining something while finding each other again." 

"You've done a lot of research on this, huh," Emilia said in a soft voice. 

"I believe in it," Luke said, not looking away from her doe brown eyes. 

"In what?" 

"Repairing something broken and making it whole again," Luke said, "And if I gain something along the way then it's a plus." 

They said nothing for a while, just looking at each other. She didn't know what to infer from what he just said, and him, well he didn't want to take it back either. He put it out there and she could gather what she wanted from it. He enjoyed this silence, filled with unsaid things. She didn't. 

Emilia cleared her throat, "Fine we'll do the love thing." 

Luke grinned. 

"What about Ally's boyfriend? What are we going to do about that storyline?" Emilia asked, "Scrap it?" 

"Keep it." 

"Then how will they - " Emilia started to say but Luke cut her off.

"He'll just tell her," Luke said, "Tell her how he feels and hope that she feels the same." 

"While she has a boyfriend?" Emilia clarified. 

Luke nodded. 

"That's not fair at all!" Emilia protested. 

Luke was taken aback. He thought that this is what girls wanted - The whole confession with hearts and flowers. "What?" 

"You're going to put Ally in such an awkward situation," Emilia said, "You can't just tell a girl that you're in love with her while she has a boyfriend! If she leaves her boyfriend for you then it's not real love at all!" 

"Don't girls usually like that sort of thing?" Luke said. 

"What?" 

"The whole confession by a boy in a public space or something like that," Luke explained badly.

"How many rom-coms have you been watching lately?" Emilia muttered, rolling her eyes. 

"Victoria makes me," Luke blurted out, lying badly. 

"I'm sure she does," Emilia said, trying not to giggle. 

"Back to the whole confession thing..." Luke said, trying to steer the attention away from his love of rom-coms.

"I just think that it's unfair to tell someone you like them while they're with someone else," Emilia said, leaning forward, "If one person is in a relationship then it obviously means something. Who would get into a relationship with someone they don't like, right?" 

Luke looked away. Something about that sentence just struck a chord with him. Victoria and him were always...complicated. He couldn't even remember how they got together. One day he was single and the next apparently the whole school was buzzing about him and Victoria being their high school's 'power couple'. After that, it's just always been her. Luke knows that Victoria isn't loyal to him, but he can't say the same. He's always been loyal to her and he just pretends that she is - It's just easier that way. She's the most popular and he's the most popular - Doesn't seem like he has a choice. It's all about social status in the end. He can always learn to love her, even if she isn't the one that he actually wants. 

"Luke? Are you even listening?" Emilia asked, waving her hand in front of his face. 

"Yes I am!" Luke said, shaking his head to get rid of his thoughts. 

"Do you just want to add the whole confession thing in for dramatic purposes?" Emilia asked, already writing some ideas down. 

"What could go wrong, right?" 

"Actually, I have an idea!" Emilia said with a grin, "It's totally Shakespeare like!" 

"Shoot." Luke said, all ears. 

"What if we make it like a tragedy?" 

"What does that mean?" Luke asked, cocking his head. 

"Jake confesses his undying love for her and she rejects him," Emilia started, "Things get kind of awkward until they drift apart again." 

"How does that tie in with the whole recovery theme, though?" Luke said, trying not to show his disappointment. 

"It could be like a cliffhanger, whether or not they will rekindle their friendship," Emilia said, biting her lip in anticipation. 

"So we write the confession thing and then have her reject him and then..." Luke said, waiting for her to continue. 

"Span it out to show their dying friendship and then have them bump into each other maybe at a place they can't avoid each other?" 

"Like what?" 

"The coffee shop job that Ally has?" Emilia suggested, "She can't run away there." 

"And then have them talk about their feelings?" Luke said, not really agreeing. 

"Okay not the coffee shop then..." Emilia trailed off. 

"What about at the park?" 

"That's genius!" Emilia said, "All their big moments have happened at the park!" 

"Then it's not like she can't run away it would be like she wouldn't want to." Luke said. 

"Who should intiate the conversation?" Emilia asked. 

"Ally." Luke answered immediately. 

"How's this?" Emilia asked, pushing the piece of paper with her draft scribbled on it. 

"I think you should move this line here," Luke said, taking the pen from her hand and making annotations. 

They spent the rest of the time coming up with the perfect scene.

 

~~~

 

Emilia was lying on her bed, reading a book when her phone suddenly rang. 

"Hello," She answered. 

"Hey!" 

"Cooper!" She said with a smile immediately gracing her face.

"What are your plans tonight?" He asked her. 

"I have a bio test on Tuesday and a Chemistry test on Wednesday so I'm thinking about studying for that." She told him lamely.

"It's a Friday night, Em!" Cooper said, amused. 

"And?" 

"You have no other plans other than studying?" He asked her. 

"It's pretty much a typical night for me," She said. 

"How would you feel about ditching your books and going out with me?" He asked. 

"I might be able to be persuaded," She flirted. 

"What about being my date to a party," He said. 

"Like with other people?" 

"Typically that's how parties are, Emilia," He said with a chuckle.

"I'm not good at..uhh...parties," She put it lightly. 

"We met at a party." 

"When I was alone at one tiny corner of the room," She reminded. 

"You'll be with me the entire time," He said, trying to persuade her, "I promise I won't leave your side." 

"Cooper, I'm not-" 

"It'll be fun; I promise." 

"Fine." She gave in. She was up for trying new things, she told herself. 

"Awesome!" He exclaimed, "I'll pick you up at 8.30!" 

Cooper hung up before Emilia could say anything. 

"Oh god, what did I get myself into?" Emilia muttered herself, shooting up from her bed and dialing the first number she could think of. 

"What's up buttercup?" [Heather](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=224648435) answered after the third ring. 

"Cooper just asked me to go to a party tonight," Emilia rushed out. 

"And you're going?" Heather asked surprised. 

"I don't have a choice!" Emilia said, "He said he wouldn't leave me alone though." 

"Wait the party tonight?" Heather asked. 

"Yeah." 

"As in Rachel's party?" Heather said, more than asked. 

"I don't know," Emilia said, "He just said a party. Why? What about Rachel's party?" 

"Rachel is his ex!"

"And?" 

"He's going to bring his new girlfriend to his old girlfriend's party and parade her around..." Heather said. 

"That's not good," Emilia muttered. 

"Ya' think?!" 

"Now what? I can't cancel," Emilia said, biting her nails and pacing the room. 

"You're going to have to be dressed like Beyonce if you want to survive tonight," Heather told her. 

"Why did you have to go scuba diving this week of all weeks!" Emilia whined. 

"I don't even have internet here so it's not like I can help," Heather said.

"I'll tell you how it goes," Emilia said defeated. 

"You'll be fine!" Heather reassured. 

Emilia sighed and said her goodbye's to Heather, wishing her a happy trip and promising to update her when she got home. 

She threw her phone on the bed and flopped beside it, not knowing how she was going to survive. There was a couple of hours until Cooper came to get her and she didn't know what to wear, what the atmosphere of the party was going to be like, how people would react to seeing them together. At school for the last couple of days, things were awkward because Emilia didn't know how to act, she never had a proper boyfriend before. She didn't think that middle school boyfriends that only lasted a week counted as a boyfriend anyway. 

She told Cooper that she wanted to take it slow and like the kind, caring soul Emilia thought he was, he understood completely. 

She got off the bed and started pacing and then it hit her. She looked up and saw Luke buried in a book, scratching his head while biting down on a pencil. He had to be doing homework and she didn't want to disturb him but she didn't have a choice. 

She got her phone from the bed and texted him. 

**To: Luke Hemmings**

**I need your help.**

She watched as Luke picked up the phone, looked into her window with furrowed eyebrows and texted something back.

**From: Luke Hemmings**

**What's wrong?**

**To: Luke Hemmings**

**Window.**

She tucked her phone into the pockets of her shorts and climbed out to the balcony, waiting for Luke to open his window. She saw Luke put his phone on the table and get out of the chair, walking to the window, opening it and leaning on the window pane. 

"What's up?" He asked. 

"Cooper asked me to go to this party tonight -" Emilia started but Luke cut her off. 

"The party tonight? As in Rachel's party?" Luke asked, with wide eyes. 

"He didn't say whose party it was but yeah, I think it's Rachel's party," Emilia answered nervously, biting on the tip of her nail. 

"You're obviously nervous about it," Luke commented. 

"What? No! I'm fine," She lied. 

"You're biting your nail, Emilia," Luke said, rolling his eyes, "You're such an open book." 

"It's not my fault! I've only ever been to one high school party and I was alone in one corner!" Emilia said, "This will be worse! I don't have Heather and it's my new boyfriend's ex girlfriend's house to which he is bringing his new girlfriend to! How do you think that's going to work out for me?" 

"Okay, calm down," Luke said, seeing the distress that Emilia was in, "What's your biggest worry right now?" 

"How serious were they?" Emilia asked nervously, "Rachel and Cooper.."

"He wanted uhh, more physical stuff and she was more towards the whole feelings thing," Luke said, trying to put it lightly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"She wanted more than him," Luke simplified. 

"But they were in a relationship.." Emilia said, still not understanding. 

"Oh my god!" Luke muttered to himself, "He wanted sex only and she wanted a relationship! How much clearer could I get!"

"So they weren't in a relationship?" Emilia said. 

"Not like the one you are in now," Luke said. 

"So they weren't that serious then," Emilia said to herself, "That's good right?" 

"Not exactly," Luke told her, "Rachel still likes him." 

"Of course she still does," Emilia muttered before telling Luke, "What do I do?" 

"Well, you're going to have to dress for the occassion and pretend like you're the best thing in the room." Luke told her. 

"But I'm not," Emilia said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"It's called confidence," Luke said. 

"Of which I have none." She deadpanned. 

"Fake it." Luke said, trying not to wince when she said that. 

"How?" 

"Well it all starts with what you're wearing," He said simply, "Show me your outfit for tonight." 

Emilia climbed back into her room and took out a fit and flare white dress with floral prints all over it. 

"We have a lot of work to do," He muttered to himself. 

"Well?" Emilia shouted from inside her room. 

Luke sighed and closed the window, turning off the light in his room and walking out. 

Emilia didn't know what was going on but she did know that at this point, she was beyond helping and even Luke knew. She sat on her bed and hung her head in her hands that was still holding the dress. 

"Get up, we have work to do," She heard. 

"How..." She asked trailing off, in awe that he was standing in front of her. 

"It would be easier if I were here then there, wouldn't it?" He said, trying to hold back a smile at how cute she looked. 

"How did you even get in?" 

"Your mom was leaving so she just let me in," He said, pointing to the door.

"I should cancel, right?" She asked him, "Luke, I can't do this." 

"Hey, don't be silly," He said, kneeling down in front of her, "I'll be at the party too. So if you get nervous just look for me, okay?"

"Promise?" She asked, feeling like a child again. 

He held up his pinky to her, "Pinky." 

"Pinky." She said with a little laugh, memories of their childhood together flooding her mind.

She remembered the time that she was scared to go to the doctor's to get her injection and Luke told her that he would be right there with her, holding her 10 year old hand. She didn't believe him but he promised..He pinky promised and he was right there. He held her hand and distracted her, made her laugh when the needle was piercing her skin. He distracted her when she thought she was going to cry. 

As much as she wanted to think that this friendship was over, that they could never repair what was broken; she couldn't. The curtains were never closed. The cracks were beginning to be glued together and disappearing all together. 

"Hey daydreamer!" Luke said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"What?" She said, torn away from her thoughts. 

"There is no way you can wear that dress," He said, standing up and walking towards her closet. 

"But it's my favourite dress," She commented. 

"You can't wear that floral dress to a high school party," Luke scoffed, looking through her clothes. 

"Why not?" 

"Because this isn't the Obama's grandmother's garden party," He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "It's a high school party. One with alcohol and judgemental teenagers and not to mention your boyfriend's ex-girlfriend." 

"So what? You want me to wear something tight and short?" She joked. 

"Ideally."

"You're kidding, right?" She said. 

"Not even a little bit," He told her. 

"I can't do that!" 

"Why not?" He asked, looking at her. 

"I just...It's not me," She said. 

"I told you that what you wear will shape how you behave," He said, "But if you're not comfortable.." 

Emilia sighed, "Every other girl will be wearing it, why shouldn't I." 

"Don't force yourself, Emm- Emilia," He corrected himself before he made the mistake of calling her 'Emmy' again. 

She pretended not to notice, "Can't have him running back to her, can we?" 

"If he runs back to her after seeing her wearing something short then he didn't deserve you," Luke said seriously. 

"I would understand," She muttered, "It's always the pretty one's that get the guy." 

"And that's why he chose you," Luke said in a soft voice, "It's not all about looks, Emilia. You're smart and kind and you put other people before you. If he can't realise that and he only cares about looks then he's not the one for you." 

"Come on," Emilia said, jumping out of bed and folding the dress, "Enough sad talk. Let's try to make me pretty." 

"Can't make you what you already are," Luke said under his breath. 

 

~~~

 

"Luke are you sure about this?" Emilia asked, tugging on her short skirt to cover up more skin. 

"Just come out of the bathroom, Em," Luke shouted, sitting on the bed waiting on her. 

"I look ridiculous," She muttered. 

"I heard that!" Luke said, "And I'm sure you don't." 

"I'm serious, Luke!" She said through the door, "This is...weird." 

"It's just in your head, Emilia!" He said, trying not to chuckle at how adorable he was finding this. 

"You're going to laugh!" She complained. 

"I won't!" 

"Pinky?" She said. 

"Pinky." He said with a smile, leaning back on his hands, looking up at the ceiling.

Emilia took a deep breath and with her shaky hand, opened the doorknob of the bathroom. She took one step out, trying not to fall - She wasn't used to such high heels. 

She watched as Luke's eyes drifted from the ceiling to her. He looked her from head to toe, his jaw slacked. 

"You said you wouldn't laugh," She told him in a soft voice, clasping her hands together while biting her bottom lip. 

"I'm not laughing," He managed to breathe out, "I'm definitely not." 

"That bad?" She sighed, looking at her maroon skirt, wondering if she should just come up with an excuse as to why she couldn't go with Cooper tonight. 

"No." He said, "You look amazing, Em." 

"You're just saying that," She said, looking at her high heeled shoes. 

"I can't explain to you [how good you look](https://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=224695861) right now," He muttered under his breath, trying to take his stare off her long, slender, smooth legs and to her face.

"You think Cooper would feel the same?" She asked excitedly. 

His smile dropped. For a second, he forgot that she had a boyfriend. "He would be an idiot not to." 

He watched as her face broke out into a grin, looking pleased with herself, "You think this would take his attention off of Rachel?" 

"If I were him, I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off of you," Luke told her, staring straight into her doe brown eyes. 

Emilia tried not to blush. 

"Cooper would be here any minute," He said, "I better go." 

Emilia's face fell. She had forgotten about social standings and how Luke and her couldn't be seen in public together. She was still at the bottom of the ladder anyway, even if she was dating one of the 'jocks'. 

"Thanks for today," She said. 

"Anytime." 

"You'll still be at the party, right?" She asked, nervous.

"Pinky." He reminded. 

"Pinky..." She repeated in a soft voice, watching him exit her room. 

Something wasn't sitting right with her, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.

 

~~~

 

 

Emilia walked in, hand in hand with Cooper, through the front door. In an instant, she was greeted with a waft of alcohol and sweat mixed in with a certain darkness that only high school parties had. 

"You okay?" Cooper asked her, leaning down. 

"Fine." She answered back, not knowing anything else to say. 

"I'll be right here the entire time," He assured, squeezing her hand. 

Somehow, it didn't calm her down. She found herself looking around the room for those sky blue eyes that she was so familiar with. She saw Luke, with a girl hanging off his arm and instantly recognised her as [Victoria.](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_390/set?id=224655493) She willed it in her mind for him to turn around so that she could calm these nerves down - but he didn't. 

Cooper dragged her around the room, owning it as if it were his own party, formally introducing her as his girlfriend. 

"Where have you been hiding her 'eh?" One of the boys asked, making Cooper laugh and Emilia shoot them a small smile. 

"What can I say man? I wanted her all to myself," Cooper said, hand around her waist.

Luke couldn't help but keep glancing at the doorway, that's why he chose a spot to chill where he could keep his eyes on the door. If this were a normal party, he would be either dancing or outside or even near the keg, he wouldn't be inside standing aimlessly and checking up on who was coming or going. 

"Lukey," He heard before he felt hands all over his body. 

"What?" He asked, not even looking at her. 

"You haven't even looked at me today!" Victoria complained. 

"That's nice," He said, not listening to her, bringing the red solo cup to his lips. 

"Lukey!" Victoria whined, stomping her foot. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 

He saw a familiar silhouette on the floor before seeing her, looking nervous and slightly uncomfortable. He forced himself to look away but still tried to make himself visible just in case she needed it. He knew her and he knew that Emilia would want to feel comforted, so moved slightly to the left, nearer to the doorway but still far enough not to look suspicious. 

"Do you want a drink?" Cooper asked, leaning down to Emilia's ear. 

"I'm good, thanks," She shook her head while smiling at him. 

"I'll be right back," Cooper said, the warmth and comfort of his hand leaving her waist. She followed his back with her eyes and then lost him in the crowd. Emilia tried not to freak out, looking at her surroundings, trying to find Luke or someone familiar enough. She wasn't comfortable in big social groups and she wasn't familiar with most of these people. It wasn't a very big school but Emilia only had one proper friend - Heather; the rest were just acquaintances. God, she wished Heather were here right now, she wouldn't be so nervous and scared if she was. 

"- And then Coach told him that there was no difference between his head or a lemon!" One of the boys said and the rest of the group burst out in laughter. Everyone but Luke.

"Hey Luke, you okay?" Ron asked him. 

"What?" Luke said, tearing his eyes away from the crowd, "Yeah. I'm good." 

"You sure man?" Ron asked, "You seem off." 

Luke scanned the room, looking for one person in particular - His doe eyed neighbour that he would like to call a friend again. He saw her standing alone, fiddling with her fingers nervously. He knew the signs all too well. 

"I'm fine." He said quickly, breaking off from the group, "I'll be right back."

"Lukey!" He heard faintly behind him but didn't care enough to turn around. 

"Em!" He said when he reached her. 

Her doe brown eyes that were usually light and cheery was now filled with panic. Her pupils were blown out and her breathing shallow. 

"Look at me, Em," He said, grabbing her by her shoulders and forcing her to look at him, "You're okay. Breathe with me now, okay?" 

He got her breathing back to normal and rubbed soothing circles into her shoulders.

"Thanks," She managed to breathe out, thankful that he was there for her. 

"Where's Cooper?" He asked. 

"He said he was going to get some drinks a few minutes ago, but he didn't come back," Emilia told him, "Have you seen him?" 

Luke looked around and saw no one at the drink counter. He couldn't break Emilia's heart by telling her that so he lied, "I'm sure he's coming back any second now." 

"It was a mistake coming here," She said. 

"You took a risk today," He told her, "Now you won't be as scared next time." 

"You sure this is okay?" She asked. 

"What?" 

"The whole you interacting with me thing," She tried to make light of it. 

"I don't really care," He told her honestly. 

"Why?" 

"You were going to have a panic attack, Emilia," He said with a humourless laugh, "My social standing isn't as important as that." 

Emilia didn't really know what to say so she awkwardly just stood around, clasping her hands together. "I should go find Cooper." 

"Yeah, sure," Luke breathed out, looking around casually to see if any of his friends were around him. 

"Thanks Luke," Emilia said with a smile and walked away from him on her heels that she was still trying to get used to. 

"That's what I'm here for," He muttered to himself, walking to the drink counter to double up on anything that would somehow numb him. Something was bothering him inside and he just couldn't figure out what it was. There was this bubbling emotion that was situated right above his stomach but he just couldn't figure out what. Well, it was either emotion or gas, he hoped it was the latter as it would be easier to explain. He downed the remaining alcohol in his cup and filled up one more time before leaving the table to go to his friends.

"What was that about, man?" Ron asked him when he was walking towards them. 

"I just wanted to check out this Hope girl for myself," Luke lied.

"Isn't she your English partner?" Ron asked. 

"You think I'm actually doing work?" Luke laughed, a bitter taste in his mouth. 

"When's the next practice, captain?" One of the other boys asked him to which he gladly obliged. Anything to stop talking about Emilia. He may say that he doesn't care about his social standing, but he does. Luke hates himself for it, but he can't say he hates the way people dote on him, wanting desperately to be his friend, looking for him and at him to see what's acceptable and what's not. But there's a lot about being in this position that he doesn't like, but the pros outweigh the cons. That's why he hasn't made an effort to leave. 

He does hate himself for what he had to sacrifice to get to the top - Emilia. 

Emilia walked around the house, scanning the area, trying to find her boyfriend but to no avail. She must've walked by the drinks table at least three times and still she can't find Cooper. He promised he wouldn't leave her side and he broke that promise. She just wanted to go home but he was her ride here. She tried to call him one more time but all she got was the dial tone.

"Where is he?" She muttered to herself. She opened the door that led to the backyard and found Cooper standing too close to a girl wearing a very, very short, tight black dress. She didn't immediately recognise her until she tilted her head. [It was Rachel](http://www.polyvore.com/untitled_389/set?id=224655310). 

Emilia didn't want to jump to any conclusions; She didn't want to be labelled the jealous, controlling girlfriend. She only just got a boyfriend, anyway. 

"Cooper," She called out, walking towards him with a blank expression. 

"Emilia! Hey!" Cooper said, taking a couple of steps away from Rachel and turning towards her.

"I thought you went to get drinks," Emilia said, situating herself by his side. 

"I did but then Rachel found me and we're just catching up," Cooper tried to explain. 

"Hi! You must be Rachel," Emilia said, sweetly, because that's the kind of person she is. "I'm Emilia!" 

"She's my girlfriend," Cooper said, proudly with a grin.

"Cute." Rachel stated. 

"You were talking about the party?" Cooper said, trying to continue their conversation from before they were interrupted. 

"Can't remember." Rachel said simply, "I'm going to go find Victoria." 

"Okay then?" Cooper said after Rachel left. 

"Sorry, did I interrupt you guys?" Emilia apologised. 

"No, it's fine," Cooper told her.

"Guess I don't get my drink then, huh?" Emilia joked. 

"Sorry about that," Cooper said with a smile, "I just got sidetracked."

"That's alright." 

"Were you jealous earlier?" He asked her. 

"No." Emilia stated, "I trust you." 

Cooper smiled, "I knew you were different." 

"I'm taking that as a compliment," She teased.

"It is a compliment," He said. "Have I told you how amazing you look tonight?" 

She wrapped her arms around his neck, getting bolder. He had his hands on her hips and pulled her closer, leaning down to capture her lips with his. 

Luke scanned the room while Victoria was talking but he couldn't see who he was looking for. He couldn't see her doe brown eyes or Cooper. He excused himself, using the bathroom as an excuse and took a lap of the room, ignoring or making excuses to anyone who came up to him and yet he couldn't see Emilia. He wondered if something had happened to her and went upstairs, checked every room but she wasn't there. He skipped down the steps and looked at the crowd one more time before going outside. 

His heart stopped for a second, and that weird bubbling, burning feeling just on top of his stomach came back when he saw Emilia wrap her hands around Cooper's neck. He watched as Cooper settled his hands on her hips and brought her closer to him. Her brown curls fell perfectly on her arched back as they connected their lips. Luke couldn't watch. He turned around, walked straight to the drink counter and dumped whatever alcohol he could find into his mouth and walked straight over to Victoria.

"Luke?" She asked, worried, looking into his now dark eyes. 

He said nothing as he crashed his lips onto hers. She froze but reciprocated almost instantly. He pulled away, ignoring everyone around her and looked to her. She nodded and he grabbed her hand, pulling her upstairs, into one of the empty rooms. 

 

~~~

 

"Thank you for tonight, Cooper," Emilia thanked, walking with Cooper to her front door.

"I'm sorry for breaking my promise," Cooper apologised sincerely, stopping in front of her. 

"Don't worry about it," Emilia smiled back. 

"I won't break another promise," Cooper said before joking, "I promise." 

"Really though, Cooper," Emilia started, "Thank you for tonight. I would have never had the courage to go to a party by myself. Heather had to literally drag me to the last one." 

"Did you have fun?" He asked her. 

"I did when I was with you," She told him. 

"I'm glad." He said, smiling at her. 

"Goodnight." She said. 

"Goodnight, Emilia." 

The first thing she did when she went into the house was run upstairs to write about her day. 

> _So I went to a party with Cooper today. He introduced me to everyone as his girlfriend. I feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I would have never been able to survive without Cooper or weirdly enough - Luke! He helped me a lot today. Today I learnt about trust._
> 
> _PS. I don't think my friendship with Luke is actually over._

Emilia closed her book and looked into Luke's dark room. She really wanted to thank him but he wasn't there. She wondered if he was okay. She decided that the best way to thank him was just to text him. 

**To: Luke Hemmings**

**Thank you. I would have never been able to survive the party without you!**

She put her phone down to charge on the bedside table and looked into Luke's room again. She was right, there was no way that her friendship with Luke could end so easily. She knew that she wasn't about to give up on this... She just hoped that he felt the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> INSIGHT INTO ME WRITING THIS CHAPTER
> 
> so im writing the pinky scene and the childhood thingy and Right Here starts playing that's the one in HSM3 (yes i am that loser that still knows the lyrics and listens to HSM AND IM PROUD) and like honestly im tearing up because this is the perfect song for this scene what even
> 
> so I just watched Stitchers and Shadowhunters and I am v v vulnerable right now. someone hold me ONWARD TO THE WRITING
> 
> Beautiful Goodbye by Maroon 5 is playing and I want to write a scene that kinda goes with the sad music and lyrics between the two BUT I WILL NOT bc im v v nice and v v kind and they're just mending their friendship so I will be nice and not an ass and write something kinda nice (take a shot everytime i say the word 'nice')
> 
> WRITERS BLOCK WRITERS BLOCK I HATE IT I HATE IT SO MUCH I HATE IT I HATE IT I HAVE NOTHING TO WRITE I KNOW NOTHING I AM JON SNOW WHERE IS MY YGRITTE
> 
> writers block is like the weirdest thing. when i was sitting down planning to write, i had no ideas. I GET UP FOR ONE SECOND TO PEE AND SUDDENLY IM HIT WITH ALL OF THESE AMAZING IDEAS?!!?!?!? whut 
> 
> Slow hands by Niall Horan is playing and honestly i want to do nothing more than to write a dance scene BUT I CANT CAUSE IT DOESNT MATCH WITH THE SCENES IM WRITING NOW AND I AM DYING (i also have to pee again. CURSE MY TINY BLADDER)
> 
> aaaaand here we go again with the writer's block. pls don't hate me i know im super duper late with this but LOOK HOW MUCH WRITERS BLOCK! I AM DETERMINED TO FINISH THIS BY TONIGHT! #WRITINGBEASTMODE
> 
> A LITTLE BRAVER BY NEW EMPIRE IS PLAYING AND OH GOD I WANT TO CRY I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH AND IT REMINDS ME OF MY KOREAN DRAMA UNCONTROLLABLY FOND WHICH IS THE ONE OF THE FEW THINGS THAT MADE ME FULL ON CRY AND I WANT TO WRITE A HEARTBREAKING SCENE BUT I CANT BECAUSE THIS STORY IS TOO NEW AND ITS NOT BUILT UP ENOUGH FOR A HEARTBREAKING SCENE im sobbing im full of emotion
> 
> I'm listening to Last Goodbye by Union J and legit it's so fitting! "We always hurt the ones we love but it doesn't mean that you and I should be alone tonight." HOW FITTING IS THIS OMG 
> 
> INSIGHT OVER 
> 
>  
> 
> HEYYYY! 
> 
> yes yes i know i am late pls don't kill me! well not really i did say that i would upload after july 7 and it is currently july 12 so i guess im early? well not early so much as I am on time? idk man im super tired i am not as young as i used to be 
> 
> BUT LOOK HOW LONG I MADE THE CHAPTER! Aren't you proud of me?
> 
> so so os os osos ossososososo 
> 
> what did you guys think? im seriously tired i can't even think of conversaion rn 
> 
> As usual, i hope you had as much fun reading this as I have writing it!
> 
> Tell me your thoughts! or tell me anything at all! Like right now im thinking about my warm warm bed and how i unfortunately have to get up in the morning to workout cause im trying to be fit and healthy and ugh its the worst ahaha


	10. Chapter 10

It was around 4am when Luke stirred awake. He was so used to the throb in his head aka hangovers, that it barely even fazed him. His hand reached out to find his phone that he dropped while carrying Victoria to bed. He turned his head and saw his girlfriend with the sheets up to her collarbone. He sighed at the fact that he was about to be  _that_  asshole and leave her to wake up alone. He got out of bed and found his phone that fell out of his pocket. He checked his messages while putting on his clothes and almost froze when he saw Emilia's unread message. 

He felt the need to apologise to her. Not Victoria, but Emilia. He made it seem like he cared more about her than his social standing... She didn't know that he bullshitted to his friends just to keep his image up. She thought that he had changed, and that what happened in the past was just a mistake; she was wrong. 

He got out of the house, keeping his head down as to not be drawn in by his friends who were still partying the morning away. It wasn't a far off walk from Rachel's house to his - After all this was a small city compared to others. He wished that he had brought his headphones, to drown out all the noise in his head. But he didn't.

So he had to live with the consistent thoughts of 'What if's and the thoughts of how he could spend more time with Emilia. He wondered what would have happened if he broke up with Victoria and actually found someone that he genuinely liked. He hated that his whole relationship with Victoria was for show. He's had more stimulating conversations with a two year old than he had with Victoria in their entire relationship.

He neared Emilia's house and debated actually calling her, but instead he simply looked at her house and shook his head. As per habit, he looked at the treehouse that they built together and was about to go inside his house when he saw a silhouette inside. He walked closer to the treehouse, slowly, just in case. 

"Walk of shame?" He heard as he neared it. 

"It's 4am," He replied, "It's too early for a walk of shame." 

"Thanks for confirming that you did the deed." 

"[Emilia Hope,](https://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=225805305) I didn't know you had such a filthy mind," He joked, "You're not as innocent as you make yourself to be."

"I don't live under a rock," She said with a little laugh, "I know things." 

"What are you doing up there anyway?" He asked, looking up, barely able to see her. 

"I come up here from time to time," She said with a smile, "Join me?" 

"Thought you would never ask." Luke said, climbing up the wooden boards nailed to the tree. 

Emilia moved over, clutching the hot mug of green tea closer to her body, to warm herself up. 

"Is that tea?" Luke asked after perching himself next to her. 

"Want some?" She asked, holding the mug out to him. 

"How did you bring tea up here?" He asked, taking the tea and sipping it. 

Emilia pointed to the bag in the corner and then to the flask next to her. 

"Emilia the Innovator," Luke told her. 

"You're back early," She commented. 

"It's almost 5 in the morning." 

"You usually come in later." 

"How would you know that?" He asked her. 

"I have a window!" She exclaimed, pointing to her house. 

"Have you been keeping tabs on me?" He teased, turning the fairy lights on.

"It's just an observation," She said quietly. 

"Isn't it way past your bedtime?" He teased again. 

"Couldn't sleep." 

"Thinking about the party?" He asked. 

"Something like that," Emilia mumbled. 

"What is it?" He asked, holding the mug out for more tea. 

"Did you friends give you flak for talking to me?" She asked him, pouring the tea. 

"You do realise that you're dating Cooper, right?" He asked her, blowing the tea to cool it down. 

"I think that's pretty obvious," She said, bringing her knees up to her chest. 

"And Cooper is on the football team." Luke continued. 

"What're you getting at, Hemmings?" 

"That on Monday the whole school is going to be buzzing with this news." 

"The news that Cooper, the popular athlete is dating a nobody?" Emilia asked in a shaky voice. 

"The news that Cooper is dating Emilia." He corrected.

"There goes my plan to cruise through high school unnoticed," She muttered to herself. 

"It's high school," Luke told her, "No one goes unnoticed." 

Emilia rubbed her hands up and down her arms and legs. 

"You cold?" Luke asked, putting down the hot mug before she could answer. 

"Not really," She lied, teeth chattering slightly. 

Luke had to hold back a smile as he removed his denim jacket and put it over her shoulders, "Just hold onto this for me." 

"If you i-insist," She said, hugging the jacket closer to her. 

Luke couldn't hold back his smile this time. "Do you remember when we built this treehouse?" 

"We made a presentation," She reminisced with a little laugh. 

"We didn't use crayons - like professionals!" He boasted. 

"Sharpies aren't professional," She replied, laughing. 

"More professional than crayons that's for sure!" 

"Took 3 and a half months, but it was worth the wait." Emilia said. 

"Remember the rules?" He asked her. 

"Rule number one," She announced, clearing her throat, "No one but Lu and Emmy are allowed!" 

His heart sped up at her saying his childhood nickname, but he ignored it. "Rule number two: Always bring up snacks!" 

"Rule number three," She continued, "No doing homework up here." 

"That was always my favourite rule," Luke said. 

"You never did your homework!" Emilia reminded him. 

"I didn't have to," He said, "I had you." 

Emilia's breath caught at her throat. She cleared her throat and shot Luke a small smile. Luke didn't blame her for her reaction, he would've been more surprised if she had said something. He knew she was trying and so was he. He could tell, because she was talking to him. 

"How often do you come here?" He asked, looking around the treehouse. 

It hadn't changed at all. The drawings they made were still stuck to the wall and the black rug was still in the middle of the floor. The tally marks of their victories were still carved into the wall and so were their names. Their real ones, and the nicknames they gave each other. Luke had put a little sticker that had faded off next to him, but Emilia being the smart one, carved her drawing of a little sun next to hers and sure enough, just like she said when she was younger, it was still here. 

"More often than I thought I would," She answered vaguely, looking around the place, just like he had.

"I haven't been back." He told her, thankful that she persuaded him into putting up fairy lights in here. He was totally against the idea when he was younger, but eventually he gave in. He was grateful that he had because he could see her in the dark and he could see things that he had thought he'd forgotten.

"I know." She said. 

"How?" 

"I just do." She answered with a small smile. 

Right now all he wanted to do was apologise. Apologise for being a dick, apologise for making her cry, apologise for not prioritising their friendship like he promised he would, apologise for breaking his promise that he made, apologise for breaking their friendship, apologise for not being the person he said he would become. But no words came out. 

Somehow he thought that Emilia knew what he wanted to say. She always knew him better than he knew himself. But just like him, she too said nothing. 

"The english project is due Monday." Luke blurted.

"It is." 

"I think we should go over it one more time," He said, making an excuse to see her. 

"Over preparation is the foe of inspiration." She quoted. 

"Huh?" 

"Aren't you happy with how Jake and Ally turned out?" She asked, resting her chin on her knees. 

"Not really." 

"Do you want to change something?" She asked him. 

"Kinda." He answered. 

"What do you want to change?" 

"The ending." He told her. 

"To what?" 

"I prepared something," He answered. 

"I'll come over at 11," She said, her eyes drooping shut. 

"You're sleepy," He commented. 

"I don't want to sleep just quite yet," She mumbled, sleep in her voice. 

"Why?" 

"I want to see the sunrise." She said. 

"It's not for another hour," Luke said, checking his watch. 

"I can stay awake that long," She muttered. 

"You couldn't even stay awake during sleepovers!" He reminded her.

"I was much younger then!" She defended, "I'm older now, more experienced." 

"You need sleep, Emmy," He said, the nickname flowing out of him naturally. 

"I can do it, Lu!" She replied in her sleepy state, not realising what she was saying.

Luke couldn't help but smile at her cute voice and the nickname. He sat next to her and said, "You could always watch it tomorrow." 

"It could be the most amazing sunrise in the world and I would miss it," She complained in a sleepy voice. 

"You won't be able to see it sleeping," He told her with a little laugh. 

"I'm awake!" She said, stifling a yawn. 

"Plus, you won't know it's the most amazing sunrise unless you see every single sunrise, ever!" 

"Nerd," She teased. 

"Come on, let's get you down," Luke said, getting ready to go down but stopped when Emilia grabbed his wrist. 

"I don't want to." She said. 

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Luke said with a small smile, putting his leg on the first step but Emilia wouldn't let his wrist go. 

"Don't." She told him with her big doe brown eyes staring at him with an emotion that he just couldn't put his finger on, "Stay with me."

Luke climbed back up, sitting next to her, looking out at the sky that was getting less and less dark, but not filled with light just yet. He didn't know when it happened, but he thinks that it did when the first ray of light appeared on the horizon, when Emilia put her head on his shoulder and snuggled herself closer to him while pulling the denim jacket closer to her body. He didn't know when it was because he was too busy looking at her, rather than the sky. He didn't know it was possible for someone to look so beautiful and peaceful while sleeping. He found himself reaching up and tucking a strand of her soft, brown hair behind her ear. 

The whole time he just kept thinking about how genuinely happy he felt and how he hadn't felt this happy in a long while. Sure, he had popularity and a beautiful girlfriend, and friends. But if he really thought about it, his popularity was the reason he ahd a girlfriend and friends. His girlfriend isn't loyal to him and he has no feelings for her and vice versa. And he wasn't sure if he could even say that his friends would be there for him if push comes to shove. Did he really have anything genuine other than popularity? 

 

~~~

 

Emilia was both cold and warm at the same time, which she didn't know was even possible; but she was. Her body was cold but from the chest up she was warm. She made a mental note to get a new blanket and a new pillow while she was at it because the pillow she was currently on was incredibly hard with almost no give to it. She snuggled closer to her pillow and threw her arm over to get another pillow, but she heard a grunt instead. 

Her eyes shot open at the unexpected sound and shot up, scooching away a little. Luke whined softly and stirred before falling back asleep. Emilia ran her fingers through her hair and tried to calm her fast beating heart. She took a deep breath in and tried to remember the events that led up to her sleeping with Luke. 

First things first, she shouldn't say 'sleep with Luke' because that connotes something completely different than what actually happened. She quickly shed the denim jacket that was still on her and threw it next to Luke, as if that was hard evidence that something actually happened. She bit the tip of her thumb nail and thought back to a couple of hours ago. All she remembered was drinking tea with Luke and reminiscing about the 'good old days' and then...nothing. 

How did she go from that to sleeping on his chest?! It made no sense! 

"Emmy?" She heard Luke say in a hoarse, raspy voice that made her stomach do a flip. 

"What?" 

"What time is it?" He asked, stretching. His shirt rode up and Emilia couldn't help but look at his toned abs. "Emilia?" 

"Uh, yeah," She said, looking at her watch, "Almost 10." 

"The sun is too bright," Luke commented, closing his eyes and throwing his arm over it. 

"How did.." Emilia said, clearing her throat, "Umm, how did we fall asleep?" 

"You fell asleep first," Luke muttered. 

"And you laid me down?" She said, clearing her throat again. 

"Uhh, I don't remember," Luke lied. 

"Right, so," She said, putting the flask and the mug into her little bag, "I'll see you later." 

"Where're you going?" He asked, lifting his hand up. 

"Shower." 

Luke sat up and looked straight into Emilia's eyes, not blinking, not looking away. "Stay." 

"But, Jake and Ally-" She started to say but Luke shook his head. 

"Forget about them," He told her, "Don't go." 

"It's just for -" 

"I miss you," He said. 

"I'm right here," She said with an empty laugh. 

"I miss us." 

"Luke..." Emilia said, her voice slightly begging him not to do this. 

"We used to do everything together, Emilia," He said, breaking eye contact, "We barely even talk anymore." 

"And whose fault is that?" Emilia scoffed. 

"I'm trying to fix it!" Luke said, frustrated. 

"Try harder." Emilia deadpanned, "I'll see you later." 

 

~~~

 

"Mom! I'm going out!" [Emilia announced](https://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=225864732), putting her shoes on. 

"Sweetie, wait!" Her mother said, rushing out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron. 

"What is it?" Emilia asked, tying her laces.

"Where did you go in the morning?" Her mother asked, "I looked everywhere for you but I couldn't find you." 

"Sorry," Emilia apologised with a small smile, looking up from her laces, "I couldn't sleep so I went to the treehouse. Next thing I knew, I was waking up there." 

"The treehouse!" Her mother exclaimed happily, "That's a place I thought you had forgotten all about!" 

"It's in our backyard, mom," Emilia laughed, "It's a little hard to miss."

"Were you there alone?" 

"Yes." Emilia lied. 

"Oh that's a shame," She muttered under her breath. 

"I heard that." Emilia said as she got her backpack from the floor, "I'll be back after finishing the English project."

"Have fun, honey!" 

"Doubt that'll happen." Emilia muttered. 

"Heard that!" Her mother said, immitating her. 

Emilia closed the door and made the walk from her house to Luke's. In actuality, it was probably less than 30 seconds, but Emilia swears that with each step she took, her heartbeat steadily increased. In that span of 30 seconds, a million thoughts ran through her head. The one that stood out the most was the fact that she had to apologise to Luke for being rude and unreasonable. In truth, she still haboured some feelings that she should probably work on, but she had no right to be rude to Luke. It was unfair. 

She was standing in front of Luke's house and rang the doorbell. Even though Mrs. Hemmngs said that she should just walk right in, Emilia didn't feel right doing so. Especially when Luke and her weren't close anymore. 

"Emilia, darling!" Luke's mother greeted with a grin on her face. 

"Afternoon Mrs. Hemmings," Emilia greeted politely. 

"What brings you to this side of the fence?" 

"Luke and I was just going to put the finishing touches on our English project due Monday." Emilia said with a polite smile. 

"Oh how wonderful!" Luke's mother responded, "Are you going to wait for him upstairs?" 

"Pardon?" 

"Luke hasn't come home yet." Mrs. Hemmings explained. 

"Oh did he go somewhere?" Emilia asked. 

"To the party last night," She said. 

"He hasn't come home yet?" Emilia asked, worried. 

"Oh don't be worried, love," Mrs. Hemmings said with a laugh, "This is quite normal. He's probably staying over with a friend. I prefer that than him trying to come home so late at night." 

"I understand." Emilia said with a smaller smile, "Thank you, Mrs. Hemmings. I'll just call him." 

"You could always wait for him here, sweetheart," Mrs. Hemmings said, hopeful. 

"I don't want to be an inconvenience," Emilia said, "Thank you for your help, Mrs. Hemmings." 

Emilia could feel the worry rising up and settling on her chest. She ran her fingers through her hair, wondering where Luke could've gone. She felt her feet walking before she even knew what was happening. She looked up and saw the treehouse. She could see a shoe near the back wall and knew that Luke didn't leave. She sighed and hoisted her backpack to her shoulders, pulled her skirt up a little so she could bend her knees freely while kicking her shoes off before climbing up the wooden planks. 

"This is way harder than it was a couple of hours ago," She muttered angrily to herself, blowing the hair out of her face. 

"Well, that was graceful." Luke scoffed slightly at the sight of Emilia with strands of her hair all over her face and skirt riding to almost the top of her thighs. He looked away, giving her space to make herself presentable. 

"You didn't go home," Emilia stated, sitting down next to him with her legs stretched out in front of her. 

"I did not." 

"Why?" She asked, looking at him. 

"Too much on my mind," He mumbled, looking at his shoes. 

"Like?" 

Luke said nothing. 

"Like what I said in the morning?" Emilia muttered, sadness laced in her voice. 

"You weren't wrong." Luke told her. 

"I wasn't right either." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"That I was being unfair." Emilia told him. 

"You weren't." Luke said, sighing, "I deserved it." 

Emilia didn't know what to say. She wanted to agree, but that would be mean and she knew that she couldn't do that to him, no matter how badly he hurt her. 

"So, Jake and Ally?" She said to steer the conversation away from being awkward. 

"Right." Luke said, completely forgetting. 

"You forgot, didn't you?" She accused with a hint of teasing in her voice. 

"Nope." He lied. 

"You're such a bad liar," Emilia scoffed. 

"I'm not lying!" 

"You pursed your lips!" She said, pointing at his lips, "Of course, you're lying." 

Luke covered his mouth with his hand, "I didn't forget!" 

Emilia rolled her eyes, "If you cover your mouth, I can't hear you!" 

Luke dropped his hand to reveal a smile. It seemed like nothing had changed between them. It was these moments that he loved.

"Jake and Ally." Emilia reminded, taking out a notebook and pen. 

"Jake and Ally," Luke repeated, getting himself in the mindframe. 

"What didn't you like about the ending?" 

"Uncertainty." Luke answered almost immediately.

"In what sense?" Emilia asked, trying to get onto the same page as him. 

"Whether or not Jake and Ally would be alright, friendship-wise." Luke started and then continued, "Whether or not Ally would take Jake's confession in a good way or a bad way. Whether or not Ally would break up with her boyfriend. Whether-" 

"Slow down, Luke," Emilia said. 

"What?" 

"Don't you think that these are good questions to leave upto the readers imagination?" Emilia asked. 

"Don't you want to know too?" 

"In my mind Jake and Ally are alright but Ally doesn't break up with her boyfriend for Jake." Emilia said. 

"Why not?" 

"Because her friendship with Jake is too precious, for one," Emilia said but didn't get a chance to continue. 

"You wouldn't go out with your friend?" Luke asked, a part of him hurt but he ignored it. 

"I would." Emilia said and Luke almost let out a sigh of relief but stopped when Emilia continued, "I just wouldn't go out with my best friend."

"Why?" He managed to breathe out. 

"Because if things go south, I would be losing two of the most important people in my life," Emilia said.

"But if things don't-" Luke started but got cut off. 

"It's not a risk I want to take," Emilia deadpanned. 

"Why not?" Luke questioned, "It could be the best relationship you would ever have." 

"I've lost too much already," Emilia said, "It's not a risk worth taking." 

"What if you had feelings for your best friend?" Luke asked, "What about then?" 

"Especially then." Emilia said. 

"Thank god I'm not your best friend anymore, huh?" Luke joked with an empty laugh. 

"Lucky for you, I don't believe in the concept of best friends anymore," Emilia said with a small, sad smile. 

They sat in silence, neither knowing what to do to break the awkward silence.

"How would you do it?" Emilia asked, curious.

"Do what?" Luke said, looking at her.

"The ending." She answered, "For Jake and Ally." 

"Ally would tell Jake how she really feels and no matter what her response is - They'll be okay." Luke answered, sincerity filling his voice and his eyes. 

"And how is that?" Emilia asked. 

"What?" 

"How does Ally really feel?" She asked him. 

Luke looked puzzled, "I don't know! I'm not Ally." 

Emilia laughed, "You practically are." 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know Ally better than anyone! Almost all her lines and feelings are written by you!" Emilia told him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

"So what?" 

"So how would she feel?" Emilia asked, genuinely curious, "What would Ally say to Jake?" 

"She would feel confused." Luke told her, not taking his eyes off Emilia, "She would feel as if she were backed into a corner. On one hand there are her feelings, her real genuine ones but on the other hand there was Jake's feelings and her boyfriends' feelings and not to mention the friendships. Ally would want to follow her heart but in the end, she would do what was right, because that's the kind of person she was. Caring, loving, kind, beautiful in every way." 

Emilia was rendered speechless. She expected an answer, but never did she expect something as in depth and sensitive as that. "Wow." Was all she was able to say. 

"What about Jake?" Luke asked. 

"What about him?" 

"How would he feel?" He clarified. 

"Scared." Was all Emilia could answer. 

"Care to elaborate," Luke said rather than asked.

"Jake, as much as he wants to be seen as the cool stoic guy really isn't. He's good at hiding his emotions. So imagine him finally telling his best friend something life changing that he's been hiding from her for the longest time! Imagine him telling her that he's in love with her while knowing that she has feelings for someone else. He knows that this might be the best thing that has ever happened, or the worst. Knowing Jake, he probably has imagined how this exact thing would play out over and over again." 

"Hypothetically," Luke said, clenching his fist to stop from shaking, "What would you, if you were in Ally's shoes, do?" 

"I don't know." Emilia said honestly before laughing. 

"Why are you laughing?" 

"Because this only happens to people in the movies or in books," She said, "This would never happen to me."

"It could." Luke said. 

"I'm lucky enough to even get Cooper to look at me," Emilia said, leaning back on the wall, "My miracles have expired." 

Luke wanted to laugh and tell her how beautiful she was, but he didn't. Unlike Jake, Luke was a coward. But he knew that already. 

"Oh crud!" Emilia said, looking at the time on her phone. 

"What is it?" Luke asked. 

"Is that the time?!" She said, slightly panicked. 

"I'm pretty sure it is, Emmy- Emilia," Luke said, correcting himself mid laugh. 

Emilia didn't even notice his slip up as she got up while stuffing everything into her backpack. "I've gotta go." 

"Where?" He asked, but really he wanted to ask  _Why_  

"I'm late!" She said, not answering his question. 

"To what?"

"I'm meeting up with Cooper at the mall," She yelled while descending from the treehouse. 

"Oh." Was all Luke could say. 

"We'll talk more later, promise!" Emilia said while, putting her shoes on at the bark of the tree.

Luke just shot her a small smile and watched as she excitedly ran to her house, throwing her bag inside and then practically ran down the street. 

And just like that, he felt his heart break a little bit more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> INSIGHT TIME 
> 
> So im writing the whole Luke scene like the starting part where he feels the need to apologise and I KID YOU NOT the lyrics that started playing were "There's no starting over, without finding closure." I AM sH00K (That's six degrees of separation by The Script if you were wondering)
> 
> OMG IM WRITING THE TREEHOUSE SCENE AND RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW (THE HSM ONE) IS PLAYING AND THIS IS THE ONE WHERE THEYRE AT A TREEHOUSE LIKE HOW FRICKIN FITTING IM SOBBING
> 
> DAY 2 of writing! I'm not sure if im going too fast with this storyline hmm...oh well! The faster the better right? more time for the drama! 
> 
> Here's a great drinking game - take a shot everytime the word 'had' appears. Idk why my grammar is so limited today. HAHAHAHAHA WRITERS BLOCK YOU MEAN BITCH
> 
> AWWW POOR LUKE! I FEEL SO BAD BUT I HAVE TO WRITE THATTTT! okay onto the next scene....this should be fun heheheheh 
> 
> im listening to BTS...i really like them im going to cry i told myself i wouldn't get into KPOP i failed because of these 7 beautiful, crazy idiots. i love them
> 
> SAY YOU WONT LET GO IS PLAYING AND I COULDNT HELP MYSELF BUT EDIT THE 'dont. stay with me' SCENE! IM SOBBING
> 
> OMG SPOTIFYYY!!! so so there's this hindi song that's playing called Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin which translated means "I admit we're not friends" HOW FITTING IS THIS SONG OMG 
> 
> DAY 3 OF WRITING! 
> 
> I just donated blood at my local blood drive so hopefully I will be awake enough to write this ahaha. I still have to catch up on my series - Shadowhunters and Stitchers so im downloading that. ONTO THE WRITING 
> 
> SO IM WRITING THE LUKE/ALLY/JAKE/EMILIA SCENE AND ALWAYS BY YOON MI RAE IS PLAYING IM SOBBING THE LYRICS ARE "I love you. Only you. Wherever whwnever you are." WHAT IS LIFE
> 
> MY SPOTIFY LEGIT HATES ME. YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT SONG IS PLAYING WHILE IM WRITING LUKE SEEING EMILIA AS BEAUTIFUL - PERFECT BY ED SHEERAN MORE SPECIFICALLY THESE FUCKING LYRICS "Cause we were just kids when we fell in love not knowing what it was." RIP
> 
> INSIGHT OVER


End file.
